An Aspiring Breeder's Wish
by Crystal water32
Summary: Many humans have formed different interactions with the powerful creatures found all over the Pokemon world. From the common Trainer to the noble Ranger, all classes have their pros and cons. But the Breeders, they are looked down upon as nobodies who shouldn't call themselves a class...(full summary in story)
1. Chapter 1

An Aspiring Breeder's Wish

Summary:

Many humans have formed different interactions with the powerful creatures found all over the Pokemon world. From the common Trainer to the noble Ranger, all classes have their pros and cons. But the Breeders, they are looked down upon as nobodies who shouldn't call themselves a class at all by horrible, mean-hearted people. It seems only true hearted individuals can see them as an amazing class of trainers. June Aquaters, the daughter of the best Water-Type breeder Walter Aquaters, knows this all too well and sets out at the age of fifteen to prove to the world that Breeders aren't weak. Feeling as the only way she could make people see, June decides to enter the Silver conference...

Chapter 1: A breeders beginning

A Lapras-shaped alarm sitting on a nightstand chimed, singing a lullaby of the Transport pokemon. The bed next to the stand shifted, the person in it completely covered by a large bubble blue comforter. A hand rose out under the covers , pressing on the small horn atop the Lapras' snout, turning off the chime. Sitting up on the bed, the one sleeping was revealed to be a girl, her brunette, pixie-cut hair sticking up in a typical bed-head style. She stretched, rubbing her soft green eyes.

"Morning already?" She yawned, getting up an stretching more, her white tank top and navy blue shorts fixing themselves from the good nights rest.

Something brushed against her foot, causing the girl to look down. It was a female Luxray, sleeping with an angry expression on her face. The girl's face became cautious, so she stepped around the Gleam Eyes pokemon.

'The last thing I want is to wake HER up...' She thought.

Tiptoeing towards the white door leading out, she turned the knob which resulted in a click. The girl froze and turned, seeing a yellow eye looking back at her in an unnerving manner. The Luxray moved in a flash, jumping on top of her in mere seconds. The lion-like electric type licked the girl happily.

"Okay! Okay, Luxwave! You got me!" The girl giggled." That's a new record for you on how fast you can move."

The Luxray yowled happily, following her friend down the stairs a couple feet away from their bedroom.

There was an opening to the left at the base of the stairs, leading to the kitchen, to the right a living room with a casual aquatic theme to it. They turned left, of course, the smell of cinnamon rolls instantly greeting them.

"Good morning June, dear!" A woman with long light brown hair, whom looked like she was in her early thirties, named Catherine Aquaters smiled at her daughter, her chocolate brown eyes always gleaming with happiness.

"Morning Mama!" June chirped at the same time Luxwave yowled with glee. "Smells awesome in here!"

The kitchen looked like a chef's dream, hexagonally shaped having a high tech stove and oven, which were being handled by a Golduck and an Empoleon wearing an aqua colored bow tie, a large fridge and many food cabinets taking up the rest of the space. Pots and pans dangled above a counter in the center of the kitchen, called The Island. The girl took a seat at the counter, Luxwave leaping atop one next to June. An Azumarill handed Catherine a plate of hot rolls, squeeing happily.

"Thank you Zuma!" She smiled, scratching behind one of the aqua rabbit's ears.

She placed a plate in front of June and Luxwave, followed by a floating glass of orange juice courtesy of Golduck's psychic. The duck quacked happily, before going outside.

Handing a sweet to the Luxray, June began eating, savoring the sweetness.

"It's amazing Ma!"

"Thank Empo for that, he wanted to try and bake."

The girl gave a thumbs up to the Empoleon, her mouth working away at another bite. The penguin bowed before washing some dirty dishes. The back door opened and closed, footsteps heading towards the kitchen.

"Cathy, is June up?" A male voice asked.

"Yes Walter, darling." She responded taking a seat across from her daughter.

The footsteps reached the two of them, a man a year or two older than Catherine grabbed a roll and passed his free hand through his unruly dark brown hair. His navy blue shirt was dirty and grass stains dotting his black pants at the knee.

"Morning dad!" June finished a third roll, indicating she was done with breakfast. "Working or training?"

"Eh, I prefer doing both" he shrugged, indifference in his dark green eyes. "It's not difficult."

June left the kitchen, going back up the stairs and into her room, while Luxwave laid down on one of the couches in the living room. Changing into a green shirt with beige colored guy- like shorts, June sat on a wooden chair in front of her dresser. Absently running a hand over the Floatzel carvings that decorated the wooden object, June looked at herself in the mirror in front of her. She then grabbed a hair brush and fixed her bed-head. Her pixie cut hair still stood up a little, but it still gave her a girlish look that still seemed tomboyish. She then grabbed a small mahogany box, about the size of her hand, and opened it. It had a ruby hair clip carved into the shape of a Totodile's fin, June's gift from her grandfather. She clipped it on, the accessory stood above her left eyebrow.

After washing her face and teeth, she got down the stairs again, making a u-turn to the right where a hallway next to the stairs led to the backdoor outside. The morning sun was bright, indicating a good day as clouds danced by, changing shape every second.

The Aquaters estate was fairly huge, the second biggest house in the town of Greenfield here in the Johto region. The only building that knocked it out of that title was a castle a good walking distance away, the flower fields giving it an appearance of a story book. June always wondered what happened to the girl that lived there with her father. She was too shy to play with her, but she remembered her name, Molly Hale. Visible from the backyard, it wasn't the castle that would draw the attention of an observer, it was the many pools of water dotting the VERY large backyard. They ranged in sizes, some for baby water-types, others for grown, and evolved members. Some could comfortably fit a Gyarados, others good for new hatched to take a quick swim in. Underneath was a network of big water pipes, allowing those who weren't amphibious to swim to and fro from any pool. Helpers came in once a week for maintenance, and it seems complicated, but it was a labor of love for Walter, as his entire work was built here. The people of Greenfield never complained about the space Walter took up, he was a kind man who helps the town when in a bind. Buildings were at the center of the field, the largest for the hatchery, the second largest for a small hospital for emergencies and the two small ones were for training. June walked into the hatchery, her favorite building and spotted her dad fixing one of the incubators lining the left wall. A large playpen with a small kiddy pool and toys took up the back wall, new hatched Water-types playing with each other. The caretakers were Quagsires, attending eggs and incubators while Walter gave orders from under the machine.

"Dad? Is something wrong?" June asked him as she approached him.

"Hmm? Oh, no. I'm just giving this one a check-up that's all."

"Oh, okay."

Crawling out from under the incubator, Walter stared at June.

"I'm going to cut to the chase here June."

She rolled her eyes playfully. 'This is soo like him, always going right at it...'

"I think you're ready for your journey."

June smile dropped with an audible pop as her jaw practically fell to the floor.

"Really?!"

Walter nodded. "I want you to go out to see how the worlds like."

June couldn't believe it. She always wanted to see the other cities on her own instead of just leaving the house to visit her 17 other uncles and aunts who bred a specific type of pokemon.

"Your uncles, aunts and I have actually gotten gifts for you", Walter continued. "I've had them since last night. So are you ready?"

"Of course I am!" June practically hopped up and down in delight, anxious for her journey.

They left back inside, going to the living room where Poliwraths set the gifts at, 12 in all.

"Thank you for volunteering in moving the gifts guys," Walter praised the fighting/water types. "I appreciate it."

They bowed before leaving, June and Walter sitting on recliners. They got through every gift, a new design backpack that could fit anything in it and remain light. Other traveling items, a brushing kit, it seemed June was ready to go as she put every item into her hiker-like backpack. As June admired every present, Walter left out for a moment, before returning with a rectangular gift box and waiting for June to finish.

"What's this dad?" June asked.

He gestured to open it, revealing 5 pokeballs with a note by every one.

"This will be your team", Walter grabbed another gift, an egg in a glass case.

June carefully took the egg as she set down the pokeballs, admiring the deep blue color.

"The egg's from your Aunt Delilah," Catherine came in.

"Really? So I'm guessing its a dragon since that's the type she breeds..."

Walter watched happily as June put the pokeballs in one of her short's pockets and placed her backpack on then grabbed her egg. Catherine packed some extra clothes and food for both her and her pokemon along with a few other things.

"Good luck darling." She kissed her cheek.

Walter pecked her on the forehead. "I hope you learn a lot on your journey. And I've assembled a flock of Pelipper to fly you to Violet City as that's where most trainers start."

"Oh...I don't want to feel spoiled dad, I think I could've walked there."

"Well I just want you to start like everyone else."

Walking outside, there were 30 Pelipper tied to what looked like the basket of a hot air balloon. The largest one crowed loudly, getting the rest in flying positions. Walter led her into the basket and got in with her. After petting Luxwave goodbye, June realized the extra passenger and gave a confused look to Walter.

"Someone has to direct these guys back you know..." He whistled, the flock began ascending and taking the basket to a much higher altitude.

The flight wasn't long, about an hour or so after they left, June spotted buildings close by.

"Drop me off here Daddy!"

Walter nodded and brought the basket down. He said one last goodbye to his daughter before leaving back to Greenfield.

Chapter 2: Getting to know the team

Knowing the city was at the east of her, June began walking.

'I can't believe it' June hugged the egg closer to herself. 'I'm starting my journey!'

She stopped walking after a moment of realization.

"I haven't even met my new friends," she said, setting the egg on a stump.

Taking out the pokeballs, she picked one and threw it high. In a flash of light, a small blue crocodile yawned cutely before looking towards June curiously.

"Hi there," she kneeled down. "I'm your new trainer June!"

The girl smiled wide, Totodiles were her favorite water type and she thanked her dad for giving her one. The amphibian stepped closer to her and sniffed her hand. Seeing a reassuring smile from the human, it smiled back and jumped into her arms.

"Aren't you sweet!" June gave it a motherly hug. "Oh, your a girl! That's awesome!"

Totodile growled cutely before jumping off and looking around the small forest. Grabbing another ball the note on it read from her Uncle Frank the fighting type breeder.

Materializing, a small jackal appeared. It was blue with black markings and stood on its tiptoes. It wore a green scarf around its small neck, and looked at June calmly.

"A Riolu? Why would Uncle Frank give me such a rare pokemon..."

The fighting type grunted, already knowing she was going to belong to a trainer.

"Hi there Riolu, its nice to meet you, I hope we can get along!" June waited for a response.

The small jackal nodded, looking towards Totodile who was sniffing a few flowers nearby and introduced herself to the croc.

The next one to be revealed was an Eevee, who looked quietly at the girl.

"Awww! I love Eevees!" June smiled.

Taking the compliment, it approached and cuddled her leg. Picking the small fox up, it revealed to be a girl.

"Another girl? Well that's fine!"

Eevee wagged her tail and jumped off to see the other two that were having a quick chat.

The fourth team member was a bipedal, grey mammal with pink feathers on its head and body. It had sharp claws on its hands and feet. Even its eyes gave a sharp stare as it looked at June with no emotion. The Sneasel was a male as the feather on its head was fairly long. The girl expected the ice/dark type to attack her, but it didn't as it gave a hug to his trainer. The claws on its hands dug into June's sides causing her to pull away.

"Ow! I didn't expect that from a Sneasel." She rubbed the scratches.

The sharp clawed pokemon gave an odd smile and started sharpening his claws on a nearby tree. That sort of behavior puzzled June, but she took out her last pokeball, from her Uncle Derek, the dark-type breeder. The final team member was a black fox, his crimson eyes darting in all directions before staring at the human in front. He had 2 blue spots over his eyes, the same color was on each paw and on the tuff of fur between its ears. A Zorua, shiny colored.

June gawked, she had seen zoruas from the visits to Derek's home. She also understood the rarity of a shiny colored, so she wondered why her uncle would give her such a rare dark-type.

Zorua sat down, awaiting something from the girl.

"Hello," June sat on the ground. "It's nice to meet you Zorua."

The fox stared at her for a while before approaching. He sniffed the outstretched hand June offered and allowed himself to be touched.

Soon, the entire team was chatting with one another as June picked her egg case up and cradled it. Eevee noted the egg and sat in front of June, her honey brown eyes eyeing the blue shell.

"I wonder what's in the egg...what do you think?"

The fox tilted her head, but otherwise said nothing.

"I think a quick snack would be nice."

With the help of the team, June was able to find a fruit tree and trained them in accuracy by executing their moves to make fruit fall. Then, she took the time to memorize the move sets of each pokemon. After they finished, June returned all of her teammates except Totodile, deciding to cycle them around to spend time with them one by one. Her egg in her arms, she continued walking.

Soon they spotted buildings, and a sign indicating they were at Violet City.

"We're here Totodile!" She cheered.

Totodile looked in wonder at the city, the buildings fascinating to her. Although she didn't battle anyone, June still wanted to heal her team up in the Pokecenter.

Quickly finishing up, she took out a map for the Johto region and read a little on Violet City. Following the directions, June found the city's Gym. It seemed to be built for flying types as decorations of the Pidgey family were carved into the building. Entering through the glass slide doors, she was greeted by a man with a bandana wearing a black muscle shirt and white shorts.

"Is this where I can challenge the gym leader, sir?" June asked.

"Yes ma'am, names Noah," he smiled. "Falkner is currently fighting against another challenger, there are two other challengers ahead of you. Come to the waiting room please."

She followed Noah to another door, a small waiting room with the two other people he had mentioned before. After Noah left to the front again, June looked at the other two. A boy with black hair and amber eyes, wearing a leather jacket and denim pants eyed her before turning his attention back to the pokemon in front of him, a Furret. The other was a girl with long scarlet hair and black eyes who sat some chairs away, wearing a blue sundress with a Flaafy at her feet. Sitting by the door she came in, June allowed Totodile to roam around the tile floor.

"So I'm guessing Totodile is your starter?" The boy broke the silence.

"Yes, it's a gift from my dad..." June hesitated.

"The names Jonas," he scratched behind Furret's ears.

"June."

Noah came back in, gesturing the girl to follow him.

"Guess I'm next," Jonas leaned back on his chair, closing his eyes. "I've got a strategy to beat this guy, what about you?"

"I don't have one."

"That's not a good way to start a battle if you want to be a trainer."

"We'll I'm not a trainer, I'm a breeder..."

Jonas' eyes snapped open, looking at June confused.

"Then what are you doing here?"

"A good breeder learns to fight to learn how to raise a pokemon."

He frowned, and shook his head. "I don't think a league is a good idea for you, if you plan on being a breeder. I would consider changing class."

"Huh?"

"From what I've heard, breeders are weak, they shouldn't do much of anything with pokemon."

Noah walked in, leading Jonas out. He gave one last look at June in confusion, before leaving.

"That was a little rude..." June frowned.

Totodile began punching the air, prepping for the match.

30 minutes passed before Noah came in and lead June to the Gym leader. He was at a standard battlefield, with a high ceiling for flying-types of course. Falkner was a man who looked to be in his late 20s. He gave off a vibe of being very experienced. He had intense blue eyes and medium length hair of the same color that covered his right eye. (I can't seem to describe his outfit :P so search him up if you want a clear picture...it's the outfit he wears in HGSS)

"Welcome to my gym, I am Falkner." He smirked.

"Hello Falkner," June bowed respectfully. "My name is June Aquaters of Greenfield. And I would like to battle you."

"I've heard from my previous challenger that you wish to be a breeder, correct?"

"Yes, sir. My father tells me that battling helps breeders in raising a pokemon."

"It's a shame most people have a bad opinion about breeders...so show me how they're wrong! Go, Hoothoot!"

He threw a pokeball, revealing the small Owl pokemon.

"Go Totodile!" June placed her egg down at the corner of her trainer's box.

The crocodile leapt ahead, clicking her teeth together.

"Hoothoot, hypnosis!"

Crowing eerily, the bird's large red eyes glowed, sending waves at Totodile.

"Totodile get out of the rings' way!"

Complying, the Big Jaw pokemon jumped to the right. The rings passed by and dissipated.

"Now to see if our little exercise payed off... Ice punch!"

The small croc pulled her right fist back, which began gathering ice energy. She then ran forward, striking the owl fiercely.

"Get up! Use Air Slash!" Falkner encouraged.

Hoothoot got back up, hopping on one foot. It swiped its wings, sending light blue slashes of wind at Totodile. Covering her face, the water-type gritted her sharp teeth.

"Don't worry Totodile use Water gun!"

Taking a deep breath, Totodile gurgled out a strong stream of water from her mouth, effectively pushing Hoothoot back.

"Quick, Bite!"

The small croc ran foward, quickly striking down the small owl and knocked it out.

"Great job Totodile!" June cheered, taking out a pokeball. "Return!"

"Go Pidgeotto!" Falkner threw another pokeball after returning Hoothoot.

"Sneasel go!" June tossed a different pokeball.

The brown-beige bird crowed loudly, the slightly long pink plumage on its head flowing gracefully. The ice type curled its claws, ready to fight.

"Impressive June." Falkner commented. "A good battler."

"Thanks, you have a way with Flying-types."

"Thanks, my dad taught me all I know. But it's not over. Pidgeotto, steel wing."

The bird took in some momentum and flew a beeline towards Sneasel, its wings glowing bright.

"Watch it Sneasel!" June called.

The sharp clawed pokemon tried to tuck and roll away, but got hit at the shoulder by the tip of Pidgeotto's wings. Holding in the pain, Sneasel stood up.

"Use an icy wind attack." June clenched her hands in a fist.

Blowing out a chilled air, Sneasel knocked down Pidgeotto to the ground, bits of ice stuck to its wings.

"Pidgeotto get up please." Falkner called. "Steel wing."

The flying type gave a cry of determination and rose, its wings glowing. It struck Sneasel in the face, knocking him out.

"No! Sneasel return." June placed her team member back, congratulating him on a good job and then took out Totodile's ball. "Go!"

Re-materializing, the Big Jaw pokemon stared at her opponent, ready.

"Pidgeotto, gust." Falkner called.

Flapping its wings in a mighty fashion, the bird pushed back Totodile to the edge of the field.

"Fight the wind and use ice punch." June called.

Trying its best, the water type pushed against the gust, gathering ice in its right fist. Eventually the wind stopped, allowing Totodile to strike Pidgeotto down, winning the match.

"June of Greenfield wins." Noah announced.

Falkner came up to June as she grabbed her egg from the floor and returned Totodile for a rest.

"An excellent job, I present you with the Zephyr badge."

Taking it, June left out the gym to the center and healed Totodile and Sneasel.

Author's note: well, what ya think about the story? Don't worry, June won't act like a trainer as you will see soon enough. I'm wondering if I should take in oc's... Turn in one and I just might use them. What did you think about Jonas, should he make a return? No? Review pleaze!

I'm also thinking about writing another story about June's aunts and uncles... I thought maybe they can have some sort of competition where trainers have to challenge and defeat 9 of the 17 breeders, but they can only challenge each one once. If they win, they receive a specially bred pokemon of any type for them to choose from. Would that be a good idea?


	2. Part 2

Chapter 3: Evan's work

After healing, June spent the night in the center, but left around 11:00. After getting ready for the day, she ate a granola bar from her pack, Eevee seated on her shoulder. The egg showed no signs of movement, so it wasn't a concern for the breeder at the moment.

They left, heading south as the guide suggested, to Azalea Town.

"Trainers sure walk a lot..." June handed a piece of granola to the fox with the one hand that wasn't holding the egg.

Eevee was still hungry, a lot judging from the gurgling in her stomach. The granola bar wasn't enough, so June took out some of the fruit she gathered yesterday, along with foldable bowls for the others. Setting up on the side of the road, she poured a good portion of Pokechow onto each bowl, which the normal type was already munching away on one. Unleashing the others out, they all had a good breakfast.

After an hour of eating and enjoying the day so far, June returned everyone back, Eevee leaping onto her shoulder once more. She cleaned up her mess and continued on, whistling "Road to Viridian City", although she didn't know the name of the tune.

An Ekans caught the fox's attention, turning her head to a bush on the right. The figure disappeared into the vegetation, Eevee cautiously looking around.

"What is it?" June followed the movements.

Eevee moved her long ears, then looked forward. The girl shrugged, looking down at the egg. A Plusle caught her eye, an orange collar around its neck. It paused to look at June, then scampered behind a line of bushes hugging the left side of the dirt road, leading to a small forest.

"An orange collar..." She muttered, then her green eyes lit up in recognition.

She ran after the electric type, Eevee hanging on. The Plusle kept going, before diving into a much denser part of the vegetation. June kept chasing the yellow rodent, eventually reaching a clearing where a fence stood with electric designs. Plusle passed by the guards standing, two Elektross. Spotting a human, they growled and glowed dimly, ready to strike. A camera was posted on the arch of the gate, zooming in on the girl's face.

"It's June, fellas, let her in." An unknown voice commanded.

The eels changed attitude, calming down and cheerfully opened the gates. She passed through, reflexively holding the egg closer. June followed a stone path leading to the entrance of an elegant one-story house built from bricks, almost like one of those ranch houses found in magazine covers. Electric types roamed the clearing, occasionally staring at the girl. Eevee lowered her ears, cautious. Reaching the door, it was opened by a man who looked to be in his mid-30s. He had smooth, dark blond hair, hazel eyes, wore a dark brown shirt and cargo pants.

"Hi Uncle Evan," June smiled.

"June, its nice to see you. Please, come in."

He led to a small cozy den. Several Pikachus sitting on one of the sofas. Seeing Evan with a guest, they all scampered off except one who hid behind a bean bag to the right of June, sleeping.

"What brings you here?" He asked.

"I just thought I could drop by for a visit."

"Ah, well I'm the only one here at the moment, Sarah left on a business trip and August...well she hasn't called since she left..."

"Oh, I hope she's okay."

"I'm certain she is, she's my daughter after all."

Evan looked at Eevee who was looking around and the egg in June's arms.

"I'm surprised Walt let you go on a journey, I hope you enjoyed my gift."

"Of course Uncle, this pack is awesome, I barely feel it."

He smiled, before a Jolteon ran in, and sat in front of him. Eevee leapt off, and approached, curious to see an evolved form of herself.

"Oh, it seems some of the eggs in the back have hatched."

Following Evan through the back door, she was surprised to see his way of handling his type. There were small houses ranging in sizes for electric types to sleep in although it looked like most of them enjoyed sleeping outside. Some of the older pokemon were practicing with one another in electric attacks near a large pond where Lanturns and Chinchous would absorb stray bolts. They entered a hatchery similar to Walter's, having the same incubators, but it had no pool, just a play pen with toys. Ampharos were the caretakers here, having a similar job to the Quagsires at June's house. Evan approached one of the incubators, a small black and white rodent yawned and rubbed its eyes, an Emolga. It looked at him and smiled, cooing cutely.

"Aww! It's adorable!" June smiled.

"It just hatched, so even if it has a dual Electric/Flying type, it won't fly for a couple of days," He picked it up and placed in the play pen where it started to play with the toys littered around it.

Going down a line of incubators, the group of new hatched included a Shinx, Pichu, and Joltik. They all began playing in the pen, getting used to one another.

"It's great to see that they're healthy," Evan smiled.

Eevee came in and sat next to June, Jolteon going past them to an opening at the corner of the large room, a door frame with a dim yellow glow emanating from it.

"Uncle, how do you keep up with all this?" She asked.

"It's not difficult, the hard part was the electric bill since half of the electric types here were eating all of my power. So I got off the grid. Electric types charge my generators so I'm never out of electricity and they can eat as much as they want."

"Oh... Wow."

"Took a while to assemble the cords and wires for it, but it was worth it. If there was ever an energy crisis, I wouldn't be affected."

There was a roar outside, startling the two of them. June returned Eevee and ran after Evan out the hatchery.

Chapter 4: A new perspective

A Duskull was flying around the clearing, causing all of Evan's Pokemon to freak out. Some tried to get rid of the ghost, but it was out of their range. It giggled, the peering, red eyes from its skull like face showing amusement.

"What's a Duskull doing here?" June wondered.

"I'm not sure, but it better get out, it's scaring my Pokemon... Or I will make it leave." He placed his thumb and index finger on his lips and whistled loudly.

A Manectric came to his side, growling viciously at the ghost.

"Now go, use-"

"WAIT!" A voice yelled.

Evan and June turned to see a guy bursting through the trees, a Drifblim in tow. He had spiky black hair that was styled back and wore a red shirt with black pants, grey shoes covering his feet. An Electivire stood in his way, giving a warning look.

"I'm so sorry, my Duskull wandered off, it's very young." He apologized, bowing.

Dismissing the Thunderbolt Pokemon, Evan motioned the guy foward. At a closer look, the guy looked around 18, an inch or two shorter than Evan, making June the shortest one.

"How did you find my house?"

"Oh, I didn't sir. I'm Derek Huntsman, I'm working on being a Pokemon Professor, so I got lost doing a little research. Then Duskull wandered off and so I chased him, he's a newborn so he gets into a lot of trouble... This is Drifblim, he's his dad."

The balloon, puffed up in anger hovered towards the smaller ghost, waving his ribbon-like arms in a scolding manner. Duskull looked on, sheepish.

"Uncle, don't be so upset, it was an honest mistake. I'm June, I wanna be a Water-type breeder." She smiled.

"Alright," Evan sighed. "But you need to leave."

"I'm not sure how..." His voice shrank a little.

"I'll be glad to lead you out, my sense of direction is good." June volunteered. "But first things first, Uncle, can you check on my egg? I just need to see if its healthy."

"Of course June, Derek wait for a moment."

Leaving to the hatchery once more, Evan took the egg out of its glass case and placed it in an incubator. The screen atop the machine displayed the heartbeat and breathing rate.

"It's healthy," he read. "Would you like to know what's in it? I can check with a push of a button."

"No thanks Uncle, I would like to find out on my own."

Evan nodded, taking the egg out of the machine and placed it back in its case. They left back out, seeing Derek return Drifblim and Duskull.

"We'll I guess I'll see you later Uncle." June gave him a quick hug.

"Come here anytime June."

Leaving out the front gates, June and Derek started walking through the dense foliage.

"I hope your uncle isn't mad at me." He broke the silence.

"Don't worry, Uncle is just very distant with people he doesn't know."

"Oh..."

"Where are you headed exactly?"

"Oh I was going to Azalea town, the Slowpoke well is nearby so I would like to do some research on them."

"That's where I'm headed as well. So I guess we can go together if you'd like"

"Sure."

They eventually reached the dirt road June was on before. After a good deal of walking, June took out her green pokegear, looking at the time.

"It's noon already?"

"Why don't we stop for lunch?" Derek set down his small black and blue backpack, digging. "I've got some sandwiches here..."

"Oh that will go nicely with the stew," June set her yellow rectangular pack down and placed the egg on a smooth rock.

"Stew? Where are you going to get a-"

She took out a medium sized pot and some ingredients she got on her stay in Violet city, then took out a foldable table and chairs. Afterwards, she took out a cutting board and began slicing the vegetables down. Derek looked on, his black eyes wide in surprise.

Feeling the stare, June paused. "What?"

"How did you have all that stuff in your pack?!"

"It's a new pack Uncle Evan got me. It can stuff anything in it and remain light."

"Wow."

"Can you get some fire wood? I suggest taking someone with you to carry a little extra."

"Sure thing," he took out a pokeball. " Drifblim go!"

He left with the ghost, leaving June on her own. As soon as she finished, Derek came back holding a good pile of branches, Drifblim was also holding a smaller pile and set it by the pot.

"Thanks, now to get some water," she took out a pokeball and released Totodile.

The croc smiled happily, wagging her tail before looking at Derek. After a small intro between him and the water type, June gave instruction.

"Please find some fresh water and fill it in this pot."

"I think Totodile needs a little help with that, Psyduck go!"

A bipedal, yellow duck materialized, tilting his head and quacking.

"Go with Totodile and find some water, use Confusion to hold the pot when its full."

The two water types ran off,

Totodile holding the pot over her head.

"So you don't just have Drifblim and Duskull?"

"No, I have a full team."

"So do I."

"Really? That's incredible, you just started your journey and you already have six?"

"Yeah my family gave me my team."

"Wow!"

The two of then brought out all their pokeballs, unleashing them. Side by side with June's team, Derek's consisted of the two ghosts and Psyduck , along with a Roselia, Spinarak, and Deino.

After exchanging hellos with everyone, Psyduck and Totodile came back with the water. June quickly made the soup and placed 11 bowls of Pokechow for the others.

"This stew is great!" Derek savored another spoonful.

"Thanks, my mom taught me how to cook." June finished up her bowl.

After they finished and cleaned up, June sat on the rock where she placed her egg and took it out for a cleaning. Then, took out a brushing kit and started to groom Zorua. Derek took out a notebook and began writing.

"What are you doing?" She asked.

"I'm putting notes on shiny Pokemon. I've been wanting to work on it, but I couldn't find a shiny."

Zorua paid no attention to Derek, focusing only on June. He was enjoying the brushing, then jumped on to her shoulder after she was done. Everyone was returned again, June having the dark fox stay on her shoulder. June and Derek continued to walk down the road, heading for Azalea Town.

Author's note: this story will pick up, keep that in mind. I'm thinking around the time the two of them past Ilex forest. I'm also waiting for another oc, so review and place a character! I think a group of three is probably for the best...

So how's the story so far, is it good? Don't flame, its actually my first story. I'm planning on putting up a sonic oc story, I can't help myself :P. But don't worry I'm going to take the time to update once a week at the least on any of my stories, I have more time since the school year is ending. I'll answer any questions you have.

HHUUUGEE thanks to Codex the Maker for his oc! Thanks ^w^!


	3. Part 3

_Chapter 4: Azalea Town_

June and Derek had continued walking for a while, before reaching the mouth of the Union cave.

"It looks sorta creepy..."the girl shuddered. "Sort of when I got lost thanks to...never mind."

"Huh? Oh, well we have to go through, the other side leads to Azalea Town."

June sighed, and looked at Zorua who was on her shoulder. The dark fox looked serious, giving a look that said, ' Do it, you'll feel pretty proud of yourself if you do.'

Reluctantly following Derek, they entered the cave. Every footstep they took reverberated, making the cave sound like it was whispering eerily.

"Do you even know where to go? I can barely see..." June whispered.

"No, but I'm pretty sure we'll get somewhere...I think." Derek whispered back.

There was a faint flapping sound, followed by a hissing.

"W-w-what's that?" June stuttered.

"I think we've disturbed some one."

"Maybe...I think I have a flash light in my pack... Derek, hold my egg."

Blindly giving the professor the egg, June dug around the pack. Eventually she found a blue colored flashlight, the sharp yellow light lighting up the area around them. Zorua shifted his ears, listening for the flapping. As the two humans walked, the dark fox did detect the sound he was looking for and leapt off of June, growling.

"What's wrong Zorua?"

Suddenly, a flock of Zubat descended on them, explaining the Tricky Fox's anger. June gave a small scream, choking up on the sound.

"June, calm down," Derek took out a pokeball. "Go Spinarak!"

The small green spider materialized, clicking its pink mandibles together. It scampered on to its trainer's right arm, stopping at his wrist, facing the Zubat.

"String shot!"

It shot a sticky string from its mouth, making a large spider web. The poison/flying types got caught in the silk, but now they were blocking the way.

Calming down, June saw the spectacle.

"Great, but how do we get across now?"

Derek grinned sheepishly and shrugged, Spinarak clicking its pincers together as it climbed to his shoulder. Turning back to the Zubat, one jerked, breaking a bit of the web. 'Seeing' that one did a little damage to the web, the others began jerking. They began making quick work of web, some beginning to break free.

Zorua leapt forward, nodding to June.

The girl understood what the fox wanted. "Extrasensory, Zorua."

His crimson eyes flashed for a moment before opening his mouth, unleashing a golden, multicolored beam at the almost free group of Zubats. They were all bathed in the glow, their poison typing giving them extra damage from the psychic move. Most fell to the ground, others fleeing.

"Great work Zorua thanks!" June rubbed his ear as he jumped back on to her shoulder, smiling for once.

"Wow! I've been to Unova, and I've never seen a Zorua do THAT! That was incredible!" Derek took out his notebook, quickly scribbling notes about the move, technique and power as Spinarak watched.

"Well, my Uncle Drake is pretty good at what he does..."

"Interesting... I think we can get out now without a problem."

They kept moving, June turning off the flashlight to see the light at the end. Eventually, they did, emerging out of the Union cave to see a pink mammal-like creature that somewhat resembled a hippo, possessing a long,white tipped pink tail and a claw on each foot, a Slowpoke. It looked calmly at the two and yawned, going to sleep.

"The Slowpoke Well is nearby," Derek looked around.

Turning right past a sizable boulder, they saw a group of Slowpoke at the distance. Due to their slow pace, it didn't take long to reach them. They were all headed the same direction, towards a well where some were drinking. People were placing food by them, berries and Pokechow. They approached a man who looked somewhat androgynous, having medium-length lavender hair and wearing a Boy Scout-like outfit, holding a long butterfly net like a staff. He seemed to be supervising the people, giving orders and suggestions to them.

"Excuse me, is this the Slowpoke well?" Derek asked.

The man turned to look at them. "Why, yes. The well is right there, we are just feeding them. Why do you ask?"

"I would like to study the Slowpoke, as they have interesting characteristics and behavior. I've heard that they don't feel pain, but I don't think I'm actually going to test that..."

"And I'm here to challenge the Azalea gym." June smiled, Zorua looking to see if the gym leader was here although, he himself didn't know what the leader looked like.

"Well I accept your challenge. I'm Bugsy, the gym leader here." The guy smirked.

"Really? Okay, well I hope we can battle as soon as you can."

"Yes, but we should help your friend out first."

"Of course, I can wait. What do you need help with Derek?"

"I can use your help to see if a lack of intelligence in a Slowpoke hinders their battling capability."

X X X

After a battling with Totodile, June, Derek and Bugsy, who was watching, all came to the conclusion that Slowpoke don't have an interest in battling and it takes a lot from a trainer to motivate them into doing so.

"Okay, I think the research is done," Bugsy stretched. "The townsfolk don't like it when a Slowpoke is battling."

Derek nodded, putting away his notebook and returning Spinarak. June returned both Totodile and Zorua, following Bugsy's lead to the village. An old fashioned Pokecenter greeted them, a Pokemart sitting right by it. After healing their pokemon, June and Derek once again followed Bugsy through the village, passing a few houses to a large greenhouse with the Indigo league's symbol decorating the top of the glass entrance.

Entering the gym, it was full of lush vegetation. Young bug types could be seen, scurrying up and down the many trees surrounding them and others popping out of some bushes.

Reaching the battlefield, it seemed that pokemon could use the trees to their advantage if they needed to. Derek sat on a single spectator bench by the field to June's side, carrying her bag and egg. Standing in their trainer's boxes, a referee came in announcing the match.

Bugsy threw a pokeball. "Go Metapod!"

A large green cocoon appeared, lazily moving its eyes to the opponent.

"Go Riolu!" June called.

The small jackal materialized, fixing the green scarf around her neck.

"A Riolu," Bugsy commented. "You have such rare pokemon along with that shiny Zorua of yours."

June smiled at his statement, before starting the match. "Riolu, Quick attack."

Glowing a dim white, the fighting type ran at Metapod in a zig zag motion at an incredible pace.

"Harden." Bugsy smirked.

Metapod glowed a greenish-whitish color before Riolu struck. She back flipped away, clenching a pain at her side.

"That harden must've made it too hard for Riolu to strike without getting hurt..." June muttered to herself.

"Tackle." Bugsy continued.

Metapod launched itself, slamming into the same side that Riolu clutched before. She howled in pain, causing June to return her.

"I'm sorry to put you through that." She put the ball away, taking out another.

Eevee materialized, silently eyeing the cocoon.

"I'm surprised you didn't use Zorua, lately a lot of trainers come in using pokemon with a disadvantage against my bugs." Bugsy said.

"Well I'm not doing that in this match, that's not a smart idea..." June shook her head. "Ready Eevee?"

The fox nodded, crouching low.

"Use Shadow ball."

Launching the ghostly ball, it went past Metapod's physical defense, giving damage.

"Metapod use String shot."

Launching a much more accurate string than a Spinarak, it tied up Eevee's paws, causing her to fall face first into the dirt. She struggled, trying to get upright.

"Eevee, don't struggle, use Shadow ball again."

Another orb was launched, hitting its intended target again.

"Metapod tackle."

Launching itself again, the force caused the fox to fall on its backside, sitting.

"That's better! Eevee you can do it even if you can't move," June encouraged. "Another shadow ball!"

The third orb knocked the cocoon out.

"Nice going," Bugsy returned Metapod. "Go Scyther."

The large mantis materialized, sharpening its claws together.

"Eevee, return." June called. "Go Riolu!"

Once again out, the jackal stared at its larger opponent, ready.

"Scyther, aerial ace."

The bug took a leap, before making a flip and slammed into Riolu. The aura pokemon grunted, trying to withstand the pain.

"Riolu!" June called. "Are you okay?"

Slowly straightening up, she nodded. The breeder sighed in relief.

"Okay Riolu, use quick attack!"

"Scyther, aerial ace."

Carefully seeing how Scyther performed its move, June realized it had a lot of power behind it.

"Use the quick attack to dodge!"

Sliding under Scyther, Riolu turned to face it.

"Cross chop," the girl shifted her weight on her feet, nervous.

The fighting type crossed her arms, which began to shine, and launched forward. She struck the mantis at its abdomen, sending it flying back.

"Good job, now keep going with Quick attack."

Striking Scyther once again, the mantis didn't look like it was going to get up again, ensuring June's win.

_Chapter 5: Friend or Foe?_

After getting the Hive badge from Bugsy, and healing Eevee and Riolu, June and Derek left out to the other side of town where Ilex forest began coming into view.

"What a big forest," Derek observed. "It bound to have something interesting. What do you think June?"

"Yeah, I'd love to see what's in there." She smiled. "This should be awesome!"

Suddenly, the egg in June's arms flashed, catching the attention of the two. They looked at each other, astonished.

The girl gasped, excited."Could it already be hatching?"

Waiting a couple more minutes, the egg did nothing. They kept walking, entering the lush forest.

"It's so pretty here, the way the sun passes through the trees." June basked in the small streams of sunshine.

"There's something about this forest, that seems special..." Derek murmured.

The egg flashed twice, grabbing their attention again.

"Eggs hatch after glowing 3 times," June recalled. "One more!"

Once again, the egg stopped at that. Following a worn path, the two looked around spotting mostly Weedle and Caterpie scurrying across the fallen leaves. They paid no mind to the humans, eating or crawling to a different tree.

"It's so peaceful here," The girl sighed. "Just soothing..."

Derek came up to a tree, gently picking up a Caterpie. It crawled to his shoulder, using the extra height to use string shot at a high branch and reeled itself in. He then spotted something away from the beaten path and began walking towards it. June followed, curious to see what the point of interest was. They reached a group of Metapod, evolving into Butterfree. They flew in a spiral, ascending high into the trees.

"Wow," they both looked at the remaining Butterfree at the distance.

"This reminds me of the tricks my Uncle Bart would do with his bug types." The girl looked on. "He knew how to work with them without much training..."

"You must have a large family..." Derek realized.

"Yeah, it is very large, but we all stick together."

The egg flashed 3 times, shaking in its case. Setting it down, June removed the case seeing the egg glow brightly. In a flash, it dimmed down, revealing a blue serpent with white fins on the side of its head and a white underbelly. Seeing June as the first thing to welcome it into the world, it slithered to her, its dark purple eyes showing complete adoration to the girl.

"A Dratini!" The breeder picked it up. "How cute! And its a girl!"

The serpent wailed happily, cuddling into the crook of her elbow.

"How awesome!" Derek smiled, reaching to pet the dragon. "It's pretty healthy looking."

Seeing the outstretched hand of a stranger, Dratini began crying, burying its face into June.

"Shh its okay," the girl rocked her arms back and forth. "I think she's shy..."

Nodding in agreement, the professor pulled away. "Well I hope she can meet the others, Duskull and Deino would probably be good friends with her."

Dratini wrapped itself around June's neck, squeeing in glee. Taking the ball from the top of the glass case, the girl gently tapped it onto the serpent's forehead. Absorbed into the ball, it hardly shook before dinging. She then took her out, placing her around her neck.

"You are going to like the world, Dratini," June smiled. "It's so colorful and pretty."

After walking around showing the dragon some flowers and berries, Derek realized they were lost.

"Wha-?!" June looked around. "We're lost!?"

They began walking, trying to find the dirt path, but even June's sense of direction was off.

"What do we do?!" She said.

Dratini, who was still on her shoulders, looked a little sick. She seemed dazed and flushed. Noticing, June placed her on the forest floor and checked her temperature.

"She doesn't have a fever..."

Derek looked with worry on the small serpent. "I hope she's okay..."

The dragon laid down, closing her eyes.

"Oh," June leaned forward to pick her up.

Dratini's skin turned pale, and it shed off, revealing its blue color again. She lifted her head to June and tilted, wondering why she was worried.

"It shed!" Derek picked up the discarded skin.

June got the serpent around her neck again.

"This is amazing." He continued to examine it. "I've heard that they shed, but how often do they?"

Before he could continue on, a female Pikachu leapt in and snatched the skin away, running.

"Hey!" He called after it.

The two began running in the direction of the mouse, only catching glimpses of her as she passed through the bushes. Eventually, they reached a small clearing, a girl seated on a rock with her back turned to them.

As Pikachu handed the skin to her, she smirked evilly.

"Excellent job," the girl examined the skin. "If this is from a Dratini, maybe we should get it, it's worth money..."

June froze in place, knowing the voice. Derek accidentally stepped on a branch, making a loud snapping sound. The girl turned, recognition in her hazel eyes as she looked at June.

She looked to be 16 or 17, a year or two older than the girl. Hair was shaggy, dark blond, up in a half ponytatail, a yellow gem in the shape of a Pikachu tail clipped at the left where her bangs were. She wore a yellow shirt with a brown vest and blue shorts. Casually, she pulled on the fingerless glove on her right hand, and fixed her hiking boots. On her left arm was a band with a red R on it.

"Well," she smirked. "If it isn't June."

"August," the girl narrowed her green eyes.

"Haven't seen you in a while."

Derek looked between the two, confused.

"She's Uncle Evan's daughter... My cousin." June explained.

August crossed her arms, Pikachu awaiting the order for an attack.

**A/N: I'm putting this in a cliff hanger because I can! (Creepy smile) You guys know what August is, I know you know. Something's going to happen in the next chapters, just you wait! Is there going to be conflict? YOU KNOW IT! **

**Possible peril?! Meybe ^w^ keep reading to find out!**


	4. Part 4

_Chapter 7: With every life_

"So," August sneered. "Shall we?"

"Huh?" Derek asked.

"Are you going to hand over the team you have nicely or make it interesting for me?"

Pikachu lowered its ears, crouching with a sinister expression.

"Of course you would end up working for team rocket..." June scowled.

"They pay well," August shrugged, taking out a pokeball. "Galvantula go!"

A sizable blue and yellow ele-spider materialized, Pikachu running to its side. Derek and June each took a ball, unleashing Roselia and Sneasel, respectively.

"Use Electroweb and thunderbolt, August began.

The spider spat out an electrifying silk net, combining with the jolt of lightning.

"Roselia, magical leaf!" Derek countered.

With a twirl, the grass-type shot out rainbow colored leaves, cutting the net before it got near the group.

"Sneasel ice punch!" June commanded.

With quick speed, the ice type ran towards Pikachu, ready to strike.

"Dodge." August frowned. "Then come back, I'm going to need you for the job we need to do."

Backflipping away, the mouse hopped onto the blonde's shoulder.

"Quick Roselia use solar beam!" Derek took the opportunity.

Raising the rose-like hands she had towards the sky, the grass type gathered energy. She then aimed at Galvantula and shot a bright yellow-green beam. It hit the spider head on, sending it flying to a tree. August took out another ball, releasing a Flygon.

"Sandstorm."

The dragon vibrated his wings, kicking up dirt and creating strong winds. June and Derek covered their faces, trying to withstand the force. Dratini whimpered timidly, scared. Her trainer shielded her from the wind, holding her close, but then decided to return her. Sneasel stood in front of Roselia, taking most of the damage.

"Sneasel, hold on!" June called.

Although they weren't blown away from the wind, Derek's pokeballs were easing out of his pockets until one flew out. He tried to grab it, but it flew out of his reach. The sphere hit onto a tree, releasing Drifblim. The wind didn't bother him, so he only looked around in confusion. Seeing Derek in trouble, he shot a shadow ball at Flygon, stopping him.

"Galvantula, use discharge on that balloon." August smirked.

"No!" Derek cried.

Sadly, the professor was a second too late and the spider electrocuted Drifblim, causing the ghost to drop to the ground. August then returned Galvantula and climbed onto Flygon, leaving without another word.

June gawked at what her cousin did, shocked to see her leave without any remorse whatsoever. She turned to Derek, who was with Roselia, trying to get Drifblim up.

"Come on." Derek tried to lift him up. "Please, please get up."

The ghost only stared at him, the look in his small red eyes unreadable.

Stepping to the other side of the balloon, June placed her hand on Drifblim, checking on his health.

"This doesn't look good."

"What can we do? There isn't a center for a few miles, and we're lost."

"Don't worry, my dad somewhat taught me how to care for Pokemon in emergencies."

June placed her bag down, taking out the potions her parents left her. After spraying and checking on how Drifblim reacted to the medicine, she looked away, but decided to try something else.

"We need to get out of this forest, the town closest to Ilex is Greenfield, where my house is."

"How?" Derek looked hopeful.

"I think my pokegear has map of the forest, I've never really messed with this thing so..."

Pressing a few buttons on the device, she found the map and pinpointed where to go. Derek returned Roselia and Drifblim. June also decided to return Sneasel.

Eventually, they were able to get out of the forest. They didn't stop, wanting to keep moving for the ghost.

The sun was beginning to set before they were able to get anywhere near Greenfield. It became dark fairly fast, so June stopped. Derek walked several more steps before noticing.

"Derek we have to stop," she said. "We can't run ourselves ragged walking all night."

"No," he firmly looked at her. "We need to get help."

"Please, get some rest. If you want, take Drifblim out of his ball, he could use the fresh air."

The professor said nothing as he released Drifblim. The ghost still didn't float, the same unreadable look in his eyes.

"Would you like to talk about him? It could make him happy." June set up her sleeping bag.

Derek nodded, sitting by the ghost.

Fixing some food, the girl listened to the story, the three seated around a fire.

"Drifblim has been my friend for so long. I found him as the oldest leader of a small drifloon flock when I first began my journey in Sinnoh. When they were being harassed by a group of Combee and their leader Vespiquen, Roselia and I stopped them. Drifblim evolved at that moment as well and decided to follow me.

"I got to catch him and ever since he has been a great help to my research. Once, he was able to carry me to see a Staraptor fly."

June listened at the times Derek had with the ghost, while serving supper.

"During my time in the Hoenn region, Drifblim caught a Dusclops following us. I let him leave to go play with it for a while and he didn't come back for three days... I thought he left to go be with it, but eventually he came back with an oddly colored egg, which took a while to hatch. When I reached Cherrygrove city after I finished up in Hoenn, it hatched into Duskull."

They both looked towards the ghost, who still did nothing as he blankly stared at the world, his round body rising and falling slightly. June looked away, not wanting to show what she knows about Drifblim's condition.

Eventually she fell asleep, but for about five hours until she woke up, startled. Derek had bags under his eyes, indicating that he was awake the whole time as he stared at the dimming fire June had started earlier. Quietly, she packed up and suggested to return Drifblim.

They walked without much conversation for a few hours until they reached a worn out dirt road and a sign indicating they were near June's hometown. They were practically running to her house when they arrived in the town. When they reached the gates, Derek noted at each side of the door were grey, lifelike statues of Blastoises, they moved, looking at the two cautiously. Recognizing the girl, they quickly opened the gates. Running past the pools of water, some Dewgongs rose up from and began barking and clapping, lights turning on in the house.

Walter opened the front door, wearing only pajama bottoms.

"June? What the? It's four in the morning how-"

"No time to explain," she zipped by him, Derek practically running her over. "We need medical attention fast!"

Running through the back door, they sprinted to the small hospital. The inside was white, having equipment any small Pokecenter would need. At the far right corner was a platform, with a moat-like ring of water surrounding it.

Pointing to it, June turned to Derek. "Put Drifblim there."

The ghost was placed at the center, three Alomomola rising from the water to greet them. Walter came in, with a shirt on, and was shocked to see the blank Drifblim.

"What's the problem?"

"This is Derek, his Drifblim was electrocuted and he has become very unresponsive, I don't really know what to do. I haven't seen something like this." His daughter explained.

He walked up to the balloon, and stared it in his eyes. Then, commanded the pink, heart-shaped fish to swim around in the platform and use Aromatherapy and Heal pulse. Drifblim was bathed in a bright yellow-green glow, although he remained still. The fish finished their moves, and turned to Walter with a sad look in their eyes.

He dismissed them, turning to The other two. "I'm sorry, but I think he's... How old was he?"

Derek hung his head. "Old enough that he couldn't fight anymore."

June looked away, quiet tears falling down her eyes.

"What attacked him?"

She turned to her father. "We we're attacked...By a wild Ampharos..."

Derek was shocked, Walter giving a look of suspicion, but decided to go with it.

"It's late, you kids go get some sleep. Drifblim can remain here. Derek, you can have any of our guest rooms."

With Walter leading, he reluctantly followed, June taking one last look at the blank ghost before leaving. They immediately left to bed, Derek taking a while to go to sleep.

XXX

'I don't know how to make him feel better,' a voice spoke. 'You know ghosts aren't my specialty'

June woke up to the sound, wondering who was up. The Lapras alarm clock indicated it was only nine in the morning. She didn't care that she had four or five hours of sleep, as she had only drifted between remaining awake or getting rest. The only thing she thought of was Drifblim, and how he was gone... Even if the pokemon wasn't hers, she wanted to cry for it.

Stepping out of the room in her blue colored pajamas, June found Walter on the video chat phone in the far end of the living room. At the other end of the screen (or line) was a man in his late forties, having deep brown eyes and short, spiky hair. He wore a purple and black jacket, the only description she could tell as the screen only displayed the upper half of his body.

"Gerald, I can't find the words to help the guy. I remember when I had to cope with the loss of a close friend, I was so sad and lost remember? I wouldn't speak or do much of anything, and I don't want Derek to go through that..." Walter muttered.

"Hmm...oh, is that June in the back?"

They both looked at the girl, her father motioned her forward.

Gerald smiled. "Good morning June."

She smiled weakly, looking down.

"I know you must be sad for Drifblim," he continued. "But he's okay now. From what I've heard, it sounded like he had an excellent life with his trainer."

"I hope Derek will be fine," she looked away, sad.

"With every life, found or lost, comes another," Gerald assured her. "Remember that."

At his background, a Shedinja appeared, getting his attention.

"I have something important to do."

As he hung up the chat, Walter turned to June. "As a friend, help Derek out. Also, Drifblim's gone, his body anyways... Gerald did say that ghosts disappear when they leave. Tell him please."

She nodded and left back to her room, Luxwave leaving at the same time to eat. After freshening up, she walked down the row of bedrooms down the hallway and knocked on the occupied one.

"Come in," a quiet voice spoke.

June stepped in to see Derek already packed to go with Duskull in his arms, crying.

"Oh, you explained to Duskull?"

"Yeah," he held the ghost closer.

"It's going to be fine, I'm sure Drifblim wouldn't want you to feel bad, even though he's gone, remember he is with you."

He nodded and returned his ghost.

They headed to the kitchen, eating a quiet breakfast. Catherine smiled at seeing June, but said nothing.

"We will be leaving soon," she said.

"Oh," she said, but nodded.

After eating, the two left almost immediately, exiting the gates. When they left the town, Derek finally broke the silence, upset.

"Why didn't you tell your dad or call your uncle about August?"

"I'd rather she tell the family, if she had the guts to do so..."

"How can she do something like that."

"August was mean girl ever since I knew her, I guess since I like water and she likes electricity, she feels we should hate each other... She was always mean to anybody and Pokemon that weren't hers, but showed respect to her elders..."

Derek shook his head, confused. "To be honest, I'm not one to stay angry... But I hope you understand that I have resentment to your cousin and that now I want to stop her plans whatever they may be, I refuse to let her destroy bonds between people and friends... And still continue with my own goals of course."

June was happy to see that he opened up, and decided to return the favor. "I've never really had friends, I couldn't really leave without some people bothering me about my dad..."

The guy seemed surprised, but understood.

"My dad was actually talking to my Uncle Gerald, he's an expert on ghosts."

The sentence sparked interest to him, lighting up a little.

"He's a bit of a poet, but he told me that 'With every life comes another' remember that," she quoted her uncle.

Derek nodded, and smiled a little, the words really speaking to him.

_Chapter 8: To Goldenrod_

"Oh, no," June frowned, looking at her guide to Johto as they continued to walk north after exiting Greenfield.

"What is it?" Derek asked.

"The next town is Goldenrod, the worst town since my dad comes by there frequently... They will recognize anyone in the family in a heartbeat, ugh... The people there are big fans of my dad..."

"Oh, I guess that sounds bad..."

June scowled playfully, but kept going. Derek was about to tease her about being upset over a small little thing when something poked at his leg. He looked down to see a little green bird with a round body trying to keep up with him as it hopped. June noticed too and stopped walking.

"Oh! A Natu how cute!"

Derek picked it up, the small bird giving small peeps and looking at him with her large black eyes.

"It is pretty cute, and I think its a girl."

"Why don't you catch it? I think this could help you feel better..."

Frowning for a second, the professor considered it and brought the little bird higher to get a good look at her. The psychic type tweeted, happy to be this high. The guy couldn't help but smile at the bird and decided that it would be nice to add to the team. Tapping an empty pokeball on Natu, he captured her easily.

"I think your uncle is right."

June smiled. "You have a new friend, I'm sure Drifblim would be happy."

Taking out the bird, he allowed her to perch on his shoulder. He laughed as the small bird hopped onto the top of his head, somewhat messing up his spiky hair and stretched her small yellow-red wings for balance. The breeder giggled, and turned her attention back to the guide.

"There's a gym there too?"

Natu peeped, stretching her wings out further. Then, her eyes glowed and she disappeared. Derek gasped, and began to frantically look around. The bird appeared in front of June, landing on the guide. She tripped and fell, Natu jumping on her head with glee.

"I'm guessing that was teleport?" She groaned, sitting up.

Derek picked up the bird and helped the girl stand.

"That was kind of impressive from her."

"Yeah, I guess it was..."

Natu began chirping, cuddling Derek. They didn't each much at June's house, so hunger kicked in. The breeder began feeding the Pokemon, then made sandwiches for herself and Derek. While they sat on the ground, Natu hopped around introducing herself. Totodile enjoyed the new company, the rest of the team indifferent. Duskull showed interest in her, trying to impress by bringing food or showing off to the bird. Deino noted the new dragon in the group and tried to play with Dratini, scaring her as she slithered to June.

"It looks like some of these guys are starting to make couples."

"Duskull, do you like Natu?" Derek asked.

The ghost flew in a circle.

"I think he's still to young to understand that sort of thing, but he does seem to like her." He continued.

"I think its cute."

They continued eating, until a bush nearby rustled, catching Sneasel's attention. A Vulpix popped out, coming up to eat some of the ice type's food. Sneasel growled, getting his owner's attention.

"Easy Sneasel," she said.

A girl ran in, going through the same bush. Tying her long black hair up with a red scarf, she spotted Vulpix, disapproval showing in her brownish-red eyes. She wore a grey shirt with a red vest, black pants and shoes.

"Vulpix!," she scolded. "I turn my back and you start running off and eating food that's not yours."

The fox lowered its head and walked towards her, hopping onto her shoulder.

"I hope Vulpix didn't bother you guys ," she apologized. "My name is Ember Rose."

"It's fine," June accepted the apology. "I make the Pokechow, so we always have enough. I'm June and this is Derek."

"Hi," he said. "We're you lost?"

"No, I was catching a Vulpix, this one actually, and I was headed towards a gym. I'm a trainer so I was hoping to enter the Silver conference here."

June's expression went from friendly to cautious, as her last encounter with a trainer was not very friendly.

"Oh, we're headed that way too, your welcome to come with us, we know where to go," Derek offered.

"Really? That would be nice, so far I've got two badges."

"June has two as well."

"Cool, you must be a good trainer!"

"I'm not a trainer," she said. "I'm a breeder just entering the conference."

"Oh, interesting. You've got to be a good battler."

"Thanks," June was a little surprised that Ember didn't say anything about her class. "Well, if Vulpix is hungry, just pull out a bowl for her. There's sandwiches here too if you're hungry."

"Oh, thanks! I was close to running out of food." She set her white and red tote bag down, taking out two bowls and a pokeball. "Monferno come out!"

A medium sized monkey with bright orange fur materialized, blue and red markings on his face. He chittered politely, taking the bowl of Pokechow offered to him.

Lunch was quickly eaten, as June and Ember were excited to leave for Goldenrod, well Ember was the much more excited of the two.

They were all able to reach Goldenrod soon enough, June digging into her pack and pulling out her Azurill-shaped hat. Ember was very confused, but decided to stay silent.

"You guys aren't from Johto, I can tell," June explained." So you don't really know much about me, well Derek knows more anyways... But Goldenrod is one of the cities that are nuts about my dad's work as a breeder so lets keep a low profile..."

They nodded and made their way through, trying to find the center. People walking by them were too busy to pay attention to them, so reaching the building didn't take too long. Passing through the glass doors of the large building, June took off her hat. This particular center was far more advanced than any other, having state of the art equipment for fast healing. They each grabbed a tray to place their pokeballs in, walking to the counter.

"I'll take the trays," a Nurse Joy smiled, stacking them on top of one another. She left to a door behind her, leaving the three to wait at the many chairs located at the front.

"So where are you from Ember?" Derek asked as they sat down.

"From Veilstone."

"Wow, I'm from Eterna."

"No way!"

"Crazy."

"You two are both from Sinnoh? Wow." June realized. "That's surprising."

They kept talking about the region, June losing interest as she had never really been there. So her mind drifted, thinking about the gym. Thinking about that made her realize that she hasn't really trained her group, so she got up to see a detailed map hanging on the wall of the city. There was a training facility down the road, so she thought going there would be best.

Walking back, she talked about the facility. As they agreed, a chime indicating the checkup was done rang, catching their attention. Nurse Joy handed their pokeballs back, busy with another trainer.

They walked out, going down the road to a blue building with a pokeball design on top. As they entered the building, a man who looked like he worked out didn't need words from them, only leading to a room which had weights, treadmills and other equipment. The man left, leaving them to do what they needed.

"Okay," June looked at her pokeballs. "Let's do this."

After an hour and a half in training, June thought about her teammates progress. Totodile faired well on the treadmill, but she didn't plan on using her. Riolu preferred a partner to spar with, displaying agility and power against Sneasel. The ice type made his mark in evading with the fighting type, but was able to land a few blows in. Eevee's special attack was high, hitting targets with shadow ball, but she wasn't going to be in the match. Zorua was matching Eevee in special attack, competing on who would hit the most targets. Dratini, under June's watch, only had to push a small medicine ball they found to help her gain a little strength. Deino kept her company, pushing the ball back when it got too far. Natu and Duskull stuck to their trainer, not really interested in the equipment. Psyduck focused on strengthening his move Confusion, turning into Psychic.

"Well done Psyduck." Derek praised him.

The duck held his head in his hands, a vacant expression on his face as always.

Roselia couldn't do much since most of her moves could damage the others, so she observed. Spinarak practiced his leaping ability, jumping through several hoops. Monferno and Vulpix trained with Ember, following her commands. They did a bit of everything the large room offered for three hours, before leaving.

"So, who should go first?" Ember asked as they left.

"Well, I'm not sure." June scratched her head.

"You can go first."

"Really? Are your sure?"

"Yeah, no problem."

The sun was beginning to set, but the gym was still opened. As they entered, a red head walked up to them, wearing a pink blouse and a white skirt.

"Hello, welcome to the gym! I'm Alicia, are you here for a challenge?"

"Yes," June smiled. "Me and my friend here are challengers."

"Okay, who is going first?"

"I am."

The red head lead them through a hallway decorated with pink frilly streamers and ribbons.

"I'm guessing the leaders a girl." Derek said.

Stepping into a large battlefield, a pink haired girl in her twenties stood in the trainer box furthest away from them. Her hair was in pigtails, wearing a white and pink shirt, blue shorts and sneakers with knee high black and blue socks.

"Hi," she waved. "I'm Whitney! The gym leader here! Who's my challenger?"

"I am." June stepped into the other trainer box, Ember and Derek seated in the bleachers located around the field.

"You should know, I'm good!" She warned, taking out a pokeball. "Go Jigglypuff!"

A pink round pokemon with large eyes appeared. Cooing sweetly.

"Go Zorua!" June called.

The dark fox materialized, narrowing his crimson eyes at the opponent.

"What a cutie!" The leader squealed. "Jigglypuff, sing!"

Singing her signature song, the normal type waved her small arms too and fro.

Zorua's eyes began drooping, slowly slumping to the ground.

"Stay strong!" June encouraged. "Don't fall asleep."

Jigglypuff finished, expecting the fox to be sleeping. He was so close to collapsing, but remained halfway awake.

"Let us help you to stay awake," Whitney smirked. "Double slap!"

The pink balloon slapped the tricky fox silly, fully waking him up. He growled, pumped for the fight.

"Scratch." June commanded.

His blue paw showing sharp little claws, he struck back.

"Now Extrasensory."

The golden, multicolored beam knocked Jigglypuff back, but it still stood back up.

**A/N: I'm stopping here so I can add detail in the next chapter.**

**sorry I took so long... I have a disease called laziness :P. I've realized that this chapter is sorta long, but I liked my wording here. All characters will have their time to talk about themselves more as the story goes on. I guess with a death here in the story I have to change the rating to T I think... **

**I'm pretty sure I've made Derek and June sort of not really caring about Drifblim's death, but I honestly tried not to... It's just that I don't really like it when a character remains sad for too long... I sound mean don't I?**

**Typo: I've realized that the dark type breeder Drake was accidentally called Derek... Whoops.**

**Also, I accidentally did a chapter twice in number, I think it was four, but I fixed it now!**

**Give me a suggestion! I might use it for the story! A thanks to AmberyynDarkrose for supplying the new character!**


	5. Part 5

_Chapter 9: Vs Whitney_

"Ok Jigglypuff, use Hyper Voice!" Whitney jumped up and down, psyched.

The balloon opened its mouth, unleashing a horrible shrill. Zorua crumpled to the ground, trying to cover his ears, different from the soft singing. June felt the same effect, but tried to stay standing.

Derek took out his notebook, writing the two forms of singing a Jigglypuff can use. "This is amazing for a little research."

"June, you can do it!" Ember encouraged, then noticed what he was doing.

Putting away the notes after a semi-angry look from the girl, the professor cheered too.

"Zorua! Use faint attack!"

The fox slowly stood up, shaking off the attack. Smirking, he vibrated into thin air. The normal-type looked around, trying to figure out where her opponent was going to appear. From above, Zorua appeared a few feet above her, making a beeline with his paw glowing.

"Look up!" Whitney noticed first.

As soon as the balloon did as she was told, the only thing she saw was a blue paw striking her between her eyes. Out cold, a red mark was appearing where the strike happened.

"Alright Zorua!" June cheered as her fox stood proud, going to his usual serious look.

She returned him, then took out Riolu, a good choice in type advantage.

"Miltank let's go!" The leader called.

A cow-like pokemon materialized, mooing lazily. Riolu straightened up, trying to look as tall as the opponent before her.

"Stomp!" Whitney began.

Although it looked slow, the normal type took a quick leap falling right above the aura pokemon. She back-flipped away, a split second before the cow made a small crater where the jackal once stood.

"Riolu use Cross chop!" June called.

"Rollout." Whitney smirked.

Tucking in its large body, Miltank took momentum and headed straight for the fighting type who was running at her head on with crossed arms. The cow knocked Riolu away, making a u turn back towards her. Before the fighting type could recover, she was knocked away again. Eventually the aura pokemon fell, out cold.

"Riolu!" June called.

Miltank stopped the attack, standing in front of Riolu who regained some consciousness. The cow took her green scarf, showing a different side from its usual calm nature. The fighting type growled, trying to stand back up.

"Seems that Miltank is taking a trophy," Whitney observed. "So Riolu can't have it back until I'm beaten."

June scowled, upset at Miltank. Bringing out Zorua again, he was beaten quickly by the rollout attack.

Back at the center after some healing, June told Ember that she could go against Whitney.

"No," she refused. "Riolu seems really upset, so I would rather wait until you have finished your business."

"Thank you," June smiled, before turning towards the two pokemon who were sitting the floor.

Riolu felt her neck, looking lost. Zorua was curled up, disappointed with himself.

"Poor Riolu," Derek observed. "She seems so upset. I wonder why she has that scarf."

"I can find an answer..." The breeder rose up from her seat, returning Zorua and carrying Riolu to the video chat phones.

Curious, Ember and Derek followed, watching as June typed in a number on the keypad and awaited an answer on the screen.

"Hello?" The screen showed static for a moment.

It got a full signal after a few moments, before displaying a man who looked forty. Having light brown hair with light brown almost yellow eyes, he wasn't wearing a shirt and looked like he just finished a workout, wiping his face with a towel.

"Uncle Frank?" June asked.

"Hey June! Didn't expect a call from you!"

Riolu lit up in recognition from her former owner, looking up to the screen.

"Hello Riolu." He smiled at her, before noticing what was missing. "Wait, what happened to her scarf?"

"Well, that's what I was meaning to tell you..."

After explaining what happened at the gym, Frank explained the problem.

"That scarf means a lot to her."

Riolu let out a sigh.

"Around the time that she hatched, I was training at an area between Nacrene city and Pinwheel forest in the Unova region for a small vacation.

"I had taken her with me as an egg and her parents, a Machamp and a Lucario.

"To keep them apart from any other members of their species, I gave Machamp a blue scarf and Lucario a yellow one. We went to this clearing that contained a big boulder called 'Challenge rock'. There, fighting types test their skill by trying to bust down the boulder in one move. We couldn't really do it, admittingly, so we just trained for a while.

"A rampaging Gigalith attacked us, so the two of them defended me and Riolu. I couldn't punch that thing to save my life, literally. They went missing after it performed a Rock Slide. My other pokemon took the task of caring for her until she was old enough to train when I got home, so I thought that some one needed to care for her and hearing your dad's request for all of us to give something, if we could, for your journey, she was my gift. To help cope with the loss of her parents, I gave Riolu that green scarf."

Finishing the story, June looked at the pokemon in her arms. The jackal looked back solemnly.

"I understand the need for your scarf, so I'll try to get it back."

The fighting type smiled a little. After saying goodbye to Frank, they left to an empty lot behind the center, lamp posts lighting up the area as it was already dark.

"Zorua come out!"

June picked up the fox.

"Don't be upset that you lost. I would never ask you more than what you can do, so you have nothing to prove to me."

The tricky fox lifted up his head, surprised that his owner wasn't angry with him.

"I think they're just disappointed that they couldn't win," Derek said. "I think training could help."

"Yeah," Ember agreed. "I think I need to train a little too... Whitney seems tough."

In a sparring match, it was Vulpix vs Zorua and Riolu vs Monferno.

"Geez, trainers take a lot of time preparing for matches..." June scratched her head.

"I thought breeders had more work," Ember let her hair down, running fingers through it. "You have more responsibility, in my opinion."

"Well, lets continue, I guess."

"Right, Monferno flame wheel."

Doing as the move suggested, June was ready.

"Counter!"

An odd barrier formed around Riolu, forcing the fire type to bounce back in pain.

"It's about time you used that move," Derek observed. "All Riolu know it naturally."

"Right." She nodded. "Quick attack!"

A white streak behind her, the Aura pokemon ran towards the fire starter.

"Close combat!" Ember called.

Ready to give rapid punches and kicks to Riolu, Monferno began winding up a punch. To his surprise, the jackal moved to his left, placed a paw on his side and released a yellow beam of light, detonating.

"That was force palm," Derek observed.

"Really?" June asked. "That's great!"

"In addition," Ember added. "It can cause paralysis."

"Wow."

Riolu looked at her paws, surprised with herself. She reached for her neck instinctively, grabbing nothing but air sadly.

"Let's try something with Zorua and Vulpix." June suggested.

"Tackle, Vulpix."

"Scratch!"

Knocking each other back, the foxes growled at each other.

"Extrasensory!" The two commanded at the same time.

The beams were evenly matched until with a deep growl, Zorua added more power, overwhelming Vulpix.

"Children!" The Nurse Joy of the center walked towards them. "It's getting pretty dark, would you like a room?"

"Sure," Derek nodded. "I think resting would be nice right now..."

XXX

The next day, June woke early to be the first challenger against Whitney. The morning wasn't the same for her, the sunlight broken from the many buildings. She looked at the large department store, deciding to check it out later. A guy bumped into her, startling the two of them.

"Sorry," June apologized. "It was..."

She noted the magazine the guy was holding, the cover having a picture of some of her family members and he had a an expensive camera hanging from his neck.

"It's ok I was..." He looked at her for a moment.

June tried to look away, but the man recognized her.

"Say cheese, Miss Aquaters!" He took a snapshot. "I've got a picture of June!"

Others walking down the street looked as well, recognizing her. I'm mere seconds, June was overwhelmed by the crowd. They all dogged her with questions about her father and if she could take requests about giving away eggs. She couldn't hear them, feeling lightheaded. Her heartbeat thudded in her ears and she couldn't seem to breathe.

"Please," she gasped. "Leave me alone!"

They didn't hear, their excited chatting drowned out her voice. Suddenly, Miltank stomped loudly behind them, catching everyone's attention.

"Move along people," Whitney ushered them away with the help of Miltank.

June took in a big breath, trying to calm down. Looking at her hands, she noted that they were shaking nonstop.

"Are you alright?"

"I'm fine..."

"Well are you ready for a rematch?"

"Yes actually, I'm not giving up until Riolu has her scarf back."

Whitney nodded, happy for the determination her challenger displayed.

As they arrived in the gym, the match went underway almost immediately.

_ (Back at the center)_

Two bunk beds were in the rented room Derek and Ember were at.

"Hmmm," Ember mumbled, Vulpix was sleeping next to her knee, opening one eye. "Guys its morning."

Derek yawned, stretching at the different bunk. He looked across from his top bunk expecting to see June at the other top bunk.

"Huh? June's gone?"

"She probably left for the gym," Ember stretched as she got out, collecting her items and heading to a bathroom.

Vulpix and the professor looked at each other, an awkward silence falling on them.

"How's it going?" He asked.

The fox squeaked at him, curling up to sleep a little more.

_ (At the gym)_

"Okay Jigglypuff, return." Whitney brought back her balloon. "Go Miltank!"

June kept Zorua out, determined.

The cow mooed, the green scarf wrapped around her neck.

"Strike now Zorua! Extrasensory."

The fox didn't miss a beat, executing the move well.

"Body slam Miltank!" Whitney ordered.

The cow jumped high, her shadow right above the dark type.

"Watch it Zorua!" His trainer cautioned.

Although he tried to dodge, Miltank was able to fall on him with incredible force. She got up, expecting to see the fox out cold, but Zorua was still conscious, an indication of paralysis dancing across his fur.

"Rollout!" Whitney called.

In one move, the tricky fox was out.

"It's okay Zorua," June returned him. "You've done well. Now go Riolu!"

The jackal materialized, growling deeply as she eyed her opponent.

"Rollout Miltank! Lets finish it!"

"Counter Riolu." June smirked.

The odd barrier around the fighting type, Miltank bounced away as she struck, obviously in pain.

"Shoot," Whitney frowned. "All of our moves are physical..."

"Cross chop again and again." June called.

Riolu fought with a different personality than before, striking ferociously and quickly. Eventually, Miltank went down, the jackal immediately taking her scarf back and wrapped it around her small neck.

"Well done," Whitney smiled. "Here's your Plain badge."

"Yes!" June cheered, Riolu jumping into her arms happily.

"Aww," Derek and Ember came in. "Did we miss the match?"

"Yup," the breeder flashed her badge. "Here it is!"

"Well, now its my turn," Ember smirked. "Whitney I challenge you!"

"Alright," Whitney agreed, going back to her trainers box as the trainer stepped into the other one. "Go Clefairy!"

"Vulpix go!"

_ (30 minutes later)_

"I can't believe you beat her so easily," June muttered as all three of them stepped out of the gym.

"Well, Monferno is my strongest... But Vulpix did pretty good too... Hey, let's go to the department store!" Ember suggested.

The two girls hurried to the store, Derek muttering about girls and shopping...

_Chapter 10: Gina's place_

After they left Goldenrod city heading north, June indicated that the next stop was in Ecruteak city. Her nose in her guide, she was too busy reading for small talk. Ember took out a small radio, turning to a Sinnoh music station.

"Hey!" Derek smiled. "I can't believe you have a radio, and it plays stations from Sinnoh!"

"Yup, it reminds me of home..."

"Me too actually!"

Listening to the songs the station provided, Derek began whistling a few notes. Jingling rang in rhythm with the beat, causing Ember to look around.

"Did you hear that?"

"Hear what?" The professor asked.

"Must be hearing things..."

The jingling came back, followed by something landing on her head. The girl grabbed what was on her, a round yellow bell-looking pokemon with a red bow on its head, a Chingling. It seemed to enjoy the music, the small ringing it emitted keeping in beat once more.

"A Chingling?" Derek asked. "It's strange to see one here..."

"It's a psychic type right?"

"Yep."

"Ooh, I want to catch it!"

It hopped away from her, giving a challenging look. June looked up to see the small yellow bell.

"Oh? I've never seen that sort of pokemon."

"It's a Chingling," Derek explained. "And its pretty rare to see one outside the Sinnoh region. Ember plans to catch it."

"It's pretty cute looking."

"Vulpix come out and use Energy Ball." Ember tossed a pokeball.

The red fox shot a brilliant green orb, knocking the bell away. It stood up, shrieking loudly as it struck Vulpix.

"Aaand that was Astonish." Derek observed. "As the move suggests, it astonishes an opponent."

Chingling jumped up and down towards Ember, accepting her as a trainer. Taking out a pokeball, she tossed it at the bell, capturing it. Vulpix hopped onto her trainer's shoulder, stomach growling.

"I'm pretty hungry myself Vulpix." She admitted. "Didn't have breakfast."

Talking about food got both Derek and June hungry as well.

"I'll make some food," June took out her cooking items and ingredients.

With yet another intro with Chingling, the group ate a hearty breakfast.

"Well that makes me feel better." June sighed.

They packed up he food and supplies, moving on.

Of course, their walk was short lived, as several sharp stones suddenly pelted the path in front of them.

"Ah!" June screamed.

"Now June," a familiar voice mocked. "You can't take things that aren't yours."

Derek was the first to whip around, seeing August with a Meganium and Flygon on both sides.

"August," he seethed. "Back to destroy more lives?"

She smirked, snapping her fingers. The large grass type shot out vines from the base of her neck, tying up the three of them quickly.

"Let us go!" June thrashed.

"Who are you?" Ember glared.

"The names August, June's cousin. Now, I'm certain one of you took the pokemon I wanted, a Chingling. Where is it?"

Pikachu appeared behind her, leaping towards them. She took the three bags the gang had, rummaging one by one through each of them. Then, she took out each pokeball they had, leaving a pile for August of 15.

Derek thrashed more than June, anger rising very fast. "You won't ruin anything else that's important to me!"

The Team Rocket member merely chuckled, putting the pokeballs away. "Please... Pikachu thunderbolt them."

Flygon grabbed the vines as Pikachu charged up electricity. Shooting the bolt, it was intercepted by a Torterra that heaved its large body forward.

"Who dares to-" August glared at the grass type, only for it to be broken by the owner standing on it.

It was a woman who had resemblance to Walter. She had green hair, which was in a french braid, murky green eyes boring into her niece. She wore a white shirt with blue overalls with green designs. August stepped back, semi fearful.

"I've seen what happened." She glared. "Give June and the others their items and go."

Doing as she was told, the girl returned Meganium and fled with Flygon, Pikachu on her shoulder. Collecting their items, June was hugged tightly by Gina.

"Darling! Are you alright?! I heard the noise and I was nearby..."

"I'm fine Aunty. This is Derek and Ember. Guys this is my Aunt Gina, she breeds grass types."

The woman lead them to a garden away from the road. Grass types, of course, roamed here, a sweet smell greeting them. Within a group of trees was a large house to put any tree house to shame. Gina climbed easily, while the three were hauled up by three Carnivine.

"Your Aunt sure is athletic." Ember observed.

June smiled sheepishly. "Thanks for saving us Auntie."

"I couldn't leave you there you know." Gina smiled, serving tea to them outside.

They sat at the edge of the support the house stood on, talking about their travels so far.

"Well, I'm glad you've enjoyed it so far," she served a little more tea.

"Miss Gina? Can you see how my Roselia is?" Derek took out a pokeball, releasing his grass type.

"Oh my," the breeder walked around her once. "She has such vibrant color on her roses."

"Thank you," he bowed slightly.

"In fact," she dug in the pockets of her overalls. "I think she's ready for this!"

She took out a shiny stone, Derek gawking at it.

"I couldn't," he refused.

"It's my pleasure," she looked to Roselia. "Would you like to evolve?"

The thorn pokemon looked at her owner and nodded. Touching the stone, she glowed brightly before revealing her new form, a Roserade.

"Awesome! She looks just like my sister Gardenia's Roserade."

"Your sister is the grass gym leader of Sinnoh?" Gina asked. "That explains this lovely grass type."

The bouquet pokemon looked away, embarrassed by all the praise.

"Awesome!" Ember congratulated, June nodding in agreement.

After a while, they left the garden, continuing to Ecruteak.

XXXX

"Your cousin is sorta awful..." Ember broke the silence after a while.

"I'm not August," June stated. "So hate away..."

"Why is she with Team Rocket?"

"I'd like to know too... But I guess the answer will come eventually... Hey, I've realized that if we've passed Aunt Gina, we're close to something she talked about called the 'Pokeathelon.'"

"Oh, I've heard of that!" Derek recalled. "Johto is known for it, I've heard it's really fun and it tests your skills and your pokemon's."

"Oooo." Ember imagined. "This sounds like an awesome side trip."

The road was found again, leading to two different roads with signs indicating where they headed. To the left was the Pokeathelon, so they went that way. Eventually, they reached a large light up dome (oh wow!). Entering it, the cold air flowed around them. They walked up to the counter in front of them, a lady waiting.

"Hello! Are you here to register?"

Looking to the other two, June said, "sure I guess."

"Good, just sign here please."

They did and were ushered into changing rooms where they had to wear jerseys of the same color for a team, black. By the door was an electronic registration pad for pokemon. Typing in the three pokemon she planned to use, June left her other pokemon and items in the room. She found Ember, who was tying up her hair, and Derek, all wearing black.

"I guess we're a team," she said.

They walked down a hallway to a room with different colored platforms, Red, Blue, Green and Black. Standing in the corresponding platform, teams of three chatted with their team members.

"We're just winging it aren't we?" Derek frowned.

"Yup," June nodded.

The platform rose along with the others, bright sunlight blinding them.

** A/N: yet another cliffhanger it seems huh? The creative wheels in my head spun slowly, so it took a while... And with my other story well... I'm sure these chapters aren't fairing well with you readers.**

** A lot of turn of events so are you keeping up? Hope so. The Pokeathelon sounded like fun to write so why not do it? What should the course be? Speed, power, jump, etc? Wonder how it will turn out. If you've played HG/SS than you know what I mean :P. There will be a prize for one of our characters! Which one? Find out next time my readers!**


	6. Part 6

_Chapter 11: The Competition_

"Welcome competitors! Welcome!", a male announcer spoke as the four teams adjusted to the light.

They all turned to a muscular man with short black hair standing behind a podium. He had an athletic outfit himself, but it was white.

"My name is Maximo, and I am the host and judge for the Pokeathlon."

At the bleachers around the field, the large crowd cheered and screamed enthusiastically.

"So competitors, the competition will be about Speed. You have to earn points based on performance, teamwork and your bond with your Pokemon, now please, all of your Pokemon have to be out of their pokeballs."

Everyone brought out three Pokemon, June taking Totodile, Sneasel and Dratini, Derek had Roserade, Natu and Duskull, and Ember taking Monferno, Vulpix and Chingling.

"Okay, here are some general rules for you and your Pokemon, if they are small enough, you can carry them, if they can walk on their own let them do so, or if they are large enough, they can carry you. Our first event out of three is the Hurdle dash! Competitors go to your color of the track and wait until the starting gun fires."

The twelve competitors and their Pokemon left to stand on their color of the track lane, some beginning to stretch.

"I think we should follow their lead and stretch too," Ember suggested as Chingling hopped up and down on her shoulder.

"Sure thing," Derek agreed, Natu tweeting and stretching her small wings on his head.

As they all began to stretch for their run, June heard a familiar voice.

"Still remaining a breeder?"

She turned to see Jonas, on the team their color lane was next to, blue, with Furret standing by him along with an Arcanine and a Pidgeotto.

"Who's that?" Ember asked.

"That's Jonas. I met him in the gym at Violet City."

"And a trainer planning to win the Silver conference," he added. "I've gotten three badges so far, how about you June?"

"Ember and I have three," she said in bored voice.

He crossed his arms, turning away.

The breeder turned to her pokemon, Dratini having pleading eyes for her to be picked up.

"Okay guys, lets show that we can be an awesome team and whatever class you want to be doesn't matter."

Her Pokemon cheered, Derek and Ember agreeing as she lifted her dragon and had her wrapped around her neck.

"Alright competitors," Maximo announced. "Before the gun fires, here are the rules for this event. You have to cross the line with a minimal amount of time, and ALL team members including Pokemon have to cross the line for your timer to stop. And you can use moves to stop other teams from crossing, but if you knock out a Pokemon, you are disqualified and your time is invalid along with your team getting no points. Got it? Now on my mark."

Everyone got into a running position, ready.

"GO!" The gun fired.

June and her team ran, trying to stay in a group as they hopped over the hurdles. Jonas ran by them, riding on Arcanine with Furret, Pidgeotto flying above him.

"Furret and Pidgeotto use ice beam and gust!" He called.

"Sneasel icy wind!" She huffed.

"Duskull scary face!" Derek assisted.

As the ice type delayed the attack on them, the ghost formed a large horrifying glare, disrupting the opponent's run. It stopped the attacks Jonas' Pokemon did, Arcanine slowing down. One of the other members of his team had a Weepinbell, commanding to to use vine whip on Ember, the one closest to him.

"Roserade, Magical leaf on that Weepingbell." Derek called.

The Bouquet pokemon swiped her arms, sending colorful leaves at the attacker.

"Thanks Derek." Ember huffed.

"No problem."

"Guys we're getting behind," June noticed, looking past the blue team to see the green team ahead of everyone.

"And your going to be really behind," Jonas smirked. "Arcanine flamethrower on the track in front of them."

The fire type took in a deep breath, launching intense fire.

"Vulpix quick attack and jump into the fire!"

The fox leapt, absorbing the heat as her fur glowed dimly for a moment.

"That...huff...was flash fire right?" Derek asked.

Some bits of fire stood in their way, Totodile quickly extinguishing them.

"Now to mess up Jonas." June muttered. "Ice punch Totodile, Sneasel icy wind."

Bringing her fist out, the water type waited for what her trainer had in mind. The sharp clawed Pokemon blew out the chilled air, going past the cold punch to send out an even stronger wind that froze the ground under Arcanine. With a yelp, the fire type tripped, stopping the blue team.

They ran ahead, coming behind the red team to get third place, green in first.

"We made it." June tried to catch her breath, Dratini snuggling her.

"I think we're in third," Derek looked to the scoreboard, displaying where the teams stood. "And we have 102 points!"

"Cool!" Ember looked as well.

"Our next event is starting in about 10 minutes, take the time to catch your breath," Maximo's voice announced.

"That was the longest run ever," June whined. "Ugh."

"Come on June," Ember encouraged. "It's actually kind of fun."

"Uuuuuuuhh."

Ten minutes passed and the four teams walked out on their platforms in the middle front of the field again, looking to the podium where Maximo stood.

"Our next event is Circle Push. Teams have to stay within a colored light with to earn points, highest score wins!"

Behind them, a large white platform rose out as the stadium dimmed down, beams of light flying around.

"Each team stand on four different corners please."

As they did, Maximo continued.

"You do not need to stay together on this event, but you have to go toe to toe against the other teams. Pokemon fight each other to stay within a colored light, but the competitors can also go against each other. You cannot severely harm the other is the catch though, oh and once again no knocking out a pokemon. So as long as you remain in a colored light, you get the points it offers."

"We don't have to, but I think staying together is the best way to get points, we can guard a light that we want," Ember suggested.

"Ok," June and Derek agreed.

"Go!" Maximo called.

Three blue lights appeared on the platform, a number one on them. The group stayed together as the other teams split up. A timer was above them, 1:30 was displayed.

"Go to that one!" June pointed to her right.

As they reached the light, a member of the green team reached it as well, a Golbat, Noctowl and Marill with her.

"I've got her," Ember called. "Make sure to keep everyone else away."

The green member snapped her fingers, her two flyers trying to harass them away.

"Chingling use Uproar!" Ember covered her ears.

The bell puffed up its cheeks, then began screaming, looking as if it threw a tantrum. Golbat and Noctowl cringed at the sound, falling to the floor to try and shield themselves from the sound.

"Marill water gun." The girl called.

The aqua mouse gained composure and shot a stream of water at it.

"Hypnosis Vulpix!" Ember countered.

The fox's eyes glowed, sending red rings at the water type. As it hit its face, its small eyes drooped until it fell asleep.

Over with Derek and June, they were fending off members of the red and blue team.

"Duskull use scary face!"

Once again, the glare stopped the attacks, the other people leaving to go try a different light. Jonas leapt in, ready to fight.

Dratini whimpered, a small turquoise sphere appearing in front of her nose. Unknowingly, she launched it at Arcanine, sending it back.

"Was that Dragon Pulse?" Derek called.

"I think so, and its an egg move too."

"Lucky shot," Jonas muttered. "Pidgeotto grab Totodile."

The bird swooped down and grabbed the water type, restraining her with its talons.

"Totodile!" June called.

The croc growled, beginning to glow a brilliant white. Her form grew, the bird unable to remain airborne with it. The glow faded when she landed on the floor, revealing her evolved form Croconaw.

"All right!" June cheered, hugging her. "You evolved!"

Croconaw cuddled for a moment before growling at Jonas and his Pokemon.

"There's only ten seconds!" Ember called.

"Arcanine use flamethrower to make them back away."

The heat forced Derek and June back, Jonas able to get a foot in before the timer went off.

"Green two, Red one, Blue one, Black three! Now for Round two!"

After five other rounds of going against one another, the teams points were:

Green: 21

Red: 22

Blue: 21

Black: 22

"Okay, since this is the last round, and with the smallest circle of light giving three points, everyone is going to go after those," June told her teammates.

"So maybe we should go for the two pointers, the one point lights have been gone since the third round," Derek suggested.

"Sure, but we need to be careful, the Pokemon are getting tired," Ember pointed out.

The lights came back on, one was green, large enough for a team and their Pokemon to fit in while the other two were red and a bit larger. The timer showed 60 seconds.

"Go!" Maximo called for the sixth time.

Team black headed for one of the two red pools of light, going head to head with two members of the green team. They fought for a moment before knocking them away. Everyone else seemed more interested on the other red light and the green one. Jonas was able to fend off many of the contestants on the 3-point light, June seeing how there weren't many at the moment, thought of something.

"There's an opening guys!" She turned to her teammates.

"June don't! These points are fine! If we lose two points we might end up behind the tie for first," Derek called. "And if we end up behind first, we might not be able to catch up."

The breeder paused for a moment, then ran towards the light. She practically dove for the circle, landing at the very edge by Jonas. Before he could react, the buzzer went off.

The final scores for the team were:

Green: 25

Red: 26

Blue: 27

Black: 29

"Yay! We got in first!" June hopped up and down, grabbing onto Croconaw's hands.

"Wow," Derek looked at the score. "So we were going to be in first either way, amazing!"

"So now we have 212 points," Ember read the score.

"This event took a while so the contestants can take a fifteen minute break to recover. There are four mini centers at the left of the field along with some drinks for the competitors," Maximo announced.

Reaching the center, a Nurse Joy healed their Pokemon with potions and ethers. Derek handed a drink to both Ember and June as they watched their Pokemon.

Taking a sip of the drink, June asked. "Is this Apricorn juice?"

"Yeah," Derek drank some as well. "The Pokeathlon makes these energy drinks for people and pokemon, but they have a cool effect on pokemon, it can improve their performance."

"I always thought Apricorns were only used to make old fashioned pokeballs," Ember looked at her drink. "Like the way people worked with them before the pokeballs we use today."

"It's not bad," June finished the last drop. "It was refreshing."

Jonas walked past them, having a drink of their own.

"So what did he do to upset you?" Derek noted the girl's scowl at him.

"He was just a little rude about me being a breeder... But I don't get how he can say that when we barely know one another... So I guess that's why..."

"Contestants, come back to the field," Maximo announced.

Finishing the drinks, and the nurses handing back their pokemon, the teams walked to their platforms again.

"Our final competition is called Pennant Capture. Your team and pokemon have to go one by one to get pennants located around the sandy field."

As he spoke, the large white platform behind them changed into what looked to be a large sandbox with beach balls and umbrellas scattered all over it. Little red flags dotted the place as well.

"Only one person and their pokemon from every team can be on the sand at one time, and the limit of pennants you can get is nine. The people have to carry the pennants, but the pokemon can grab some for you. Once again, you can use moves to make people lose their pennants but no knockouts."

The teams stood on different sides of the field, everyone taking a good look on where the flags stood.

"I'll go first," Derek volunteered.

At the scoreboard, the timer displayed five minutes.

"Go!" Maximo called.

The professor ran, grabbing one pennant at his feet. The other teams started fighting, Derek running around them to get a couple more flags. One member of the red team attacked him, making him back away until he was at the edge of the box. Natu tweeted and stretched her wings, her eyes glowing blue until her trainer and his pokemon were teleported on the other side of the box.

"Thanks Natu!" Derek gave her a pat.

The bird hopped up and down in a circle, excited. Roserade was able to grab some flags while Duskull used scary face to keep the other teams back. Derek ran back to his side to the others, depositing nine flags onto a box next to them.

June ran out next, getting past a barrage of attacks. She had gotten a couple flags until Pidgeotto swooped in and took them. Jonas got them and went back to his side of the field.

"Darn," June said. "I won't be able to get the other flags in the middle of the field... Wait... Croconaw use water gun on the sand under their feet. And Sneasel use Icy wind."

The other competitors were stuck as June ran in and took pennants before running back to her side.

"Go Ember!" Derek called as June deposited the pennants.

"Vulpix use quick attack to get a few of the flags." Ember told her fox.

The fire type zipped around before coming back with three flags in her mouth. The member of the green team that fought her before fought for the flags in her hand. They exchanged attacks before Ember was able to get past her and grab six more with the help of Monferno and Chingling before returning back to the others.

"Great Ember!" June smiled as Derek ran out into the field again. "It was smart to use Vulpix."

"Thanks, and look, the timer only has less than a minute on it."

Derek was able to grab a few flags but the pressure the other people felt from the time made their attacks on one another even crazier. The red team had knocked out a Pokemon of the green team, getting them disqualified. Derek got back with only two flags as the timer went off, everyone turning to the scoreboard.

Green: 27

Red: XXX

Blue: 30

Black: 29

"Alright," Maximo announced. "All competitors go back to their platforms."

He waited until everyone got back to his side of the stadium before he continued.

"And now for the scores and some extra points for some of the teams.

The Green team gets an extra 20 points for effort, Red 18, Blue 22, Black 21."

Maximo continued to give extra points involving teamwork bonds and leadership until he finally got to the total.

"And the total is:

Green: 316

Red: 289

Blue: 321

Black: 330

The winners are the Black team for their brilliant effort in both Teamwork and bond!"

The team was basically hopping up and down like children in excitement as Maximo announced. "With the points you get in every competition you participate in, you can cash in the points for prizes by the front desk. The Black team gets an additional 200 points for winning first place. Thank you competitors for this amazing Pokeathlon!"

All of them left for their changing rooms, June meeting up with her friends at the front desk after she returned her pokemon, got cleaned up and changed back to her usual outfit.

"Let's go see what we can get with the points," Ember looked at the card the lady at the front desk gave her.

At the left of said desk was another lady with items displayed behind her, points under them. The items ranged from very expensive potions to rare berries not found in many places. They looked at all the items one by one.

"I don't need any of the items here," June said. "So you guys choose."

"Hmm," Derek looked one more time. "There isn't anything I would honestly need either."

Ember said nothing as she eyed a Fire stone among the top shelves, only costing 500 points.

"Ember you can use the points for that stone if you want," June brought her out of thinking.

"Really?"

"Yeah," Derek agreed. "You can get the stone for when you think Vulpix is ready to evolve."

Ember grinned from ear to ear, happily cashing in the 530 points to get the stone. They all looked at the crimson pattern within the amber rock for a moment before it was put away.

June walked back to the front desk after noticing the sun setting through one of the windows. "Do you have rooms here?"

"Actually yes, you can stay here for the night if you want," the lady smiled.

"Yes please."

After she got the key for the room, June saw a sign for the cafeteria and decided to lead the others there.

* * *

_Chapter 12: Fire and Ghosts_

The next day, the gang left the Pokeathlon dome and headed the same way they came from. Eventually they found the signs that pointed them towards the down and followed the other path, heading east.

"I think Ecruteak is near," June had her nose in the guide again.

A loud bark got all of their attention, seeing Arcanine jumping in front of them, Jonas being its rider.

He had a very serious face as he jumped off his fire type. "I would like to go with you guys if you don't mind."

Obviously June wasn't thrilled with the thought, but Ember grabbed her and turned her around as Derek did the same thing. They did a huddle speaking in a hushed tone.

"If you didn't like how rude he was, maybe you can actually change his mind about Breeders," Derek suggested.

"It could work," Ember agreed.

June thought for a moment, but reluctantly agreed.

"You can come with us then," she said as they turned around.

Jonas nodded as he returned Arcanine and they all continued walking.

"Where did you start off?" Derek asked.

"In New Bark town," he responded. "I thought leaving your house at the age of ten was a stupid idea so I waited."

The awkwardness of the group trying to make a conversation with one another was heavy. Trees began dotting the landscape until they practically entered a small forest.

"From here, Ecruteak should be at the other side," June guided. "And then for the Gym battles. I'm not going first, Ember you do it."

"O...k," the girl was confused by the sentence.

"Do you guys train?" Jonas asked.

"Not really," Ember answered.

"Then how do you expect to win at the gym?"

"..."

"It's probably better if you do." He took out Arcanine.

As the large canine materialized, Jonas instructed it to use its strong legs to strike trees for strength. As the fire type struck another tree, a swarm of Beedrill flew out and attacked them.

They all screamed and ran, the swarm closing in. Jonas jumped onto Arcanine, grabbing onto the others.

"Arcanine use Flamethrower!"

It turned its head and breathed out an intense flame, the others leaning away to avoid a burn. Some of the bug types got burned, but the others still pursued them. Thanks to the dog's speed, they were able to outrun the swarm.

They finally stopped running and got off, only for the main road to be nowhere in sight.

"Great," June muttered. "Thanks to you, we're off the road. Maybe that's why we don't train."

"I doubt it was for that reason," Jonas crossed his arms.

"Well, thanks to that, we almost got killed. And we can't go back the way we came, the Beedrill will probably attack again."

"Look, I'll fix it. Pidgeotto go."

The bird chirped, awaiting orders.

"Fly around and see if you can find a path."

"That's pointless, I'll take out my pokegear and pinpoint where we are."

Jonas simply frowned, Pidgeotto perching itself on a low branch nearby. June lead everyone out of the trees, finding the path again. At the distance was smoke.

"Is that a fire?" Derek asked.

"I think its from Arcanine's flamethrower," Ember realized.

They ran towards the dark cloud, seeing some Beedrill flee.

"Croconaw go!" June called.

The water type began putting out nearby flames, working its way through.

"Vulpix go!" Ember called, followed by Jonas and Derek.

"Arcanine."

"Psyduck, come out."

They were able to absorb and put away the flames, everyone looking at the damage.

"This will probably take a while to be fixed." Ember muttered.

The others said nothing as they continued to walk. June wanted to say something but decided against it. They spotted buildings, crossing an arch before officially entering Ecruteak. They headed to the center, healing quickly.

"I'll rent a room for us for the night," June said. "You guys can go challenge the gym."

The others walked out the automatic doors, a dark gloomy feeling on them.

"June must be upset about the fire." Derek told Jonas.

"I didn't mean to do it."

"Yeah, but I think she doesn't like you."

"The only reason why I was rude to her was to help, my parents taught me that Breeders are terrible."

"Well maybe you should make your own opinion on it," Ember suggested.

Jonas said nothing, the three of them finding the gym eventually.

At the center, June took the key to the room and entered before thinking about the suggestion of training her team while she groomed them.

At the gym, Ember had begun her three on three match against Morty, the ghost type leader.

"Okay Monferno use flame wheel."

"Ghastly dodge it."

The ghost type disappeared through the walls of the dark gym and appeared behind the fire starter, giving off a small cackle.

"Use Night shade."

The ghost emitted a crimson ring, its gaseous body cloaked in a dark purple aura. Monferno grunted as the ring struck him, but remained standing.

"Return Monferno, Vulpix come out."

Switching for her fox, the match continued with Morty using Mean look to prevent any more switch outs.

"You have to knock out that Ghastly for you to switch out," Derek called from the sidelines.

"Vulpix use Nasty plot!"

At the center, June decided she was done with grooming and left out.

"Maybe I shouldn't care about how people treat me," she muttered to herself. "I should care about how my class is treated..."

She found herself entering the gym to hear what sounded like a ref calling that a Ghastly was knocked out. Entering to the battlefield, Derek motioned her over.

"Hey June, so far Ember has beaten one of Morty's pokemon."

Sitting by him was Jonas, observing the fight as best he could.

"Vulpix come back, Monferno go!"

They looked to the field to see Morty bring out his next pokemon, a Dusclops.

"Use Shadow Punch."

Monferno dodged the ghostly punch, before performing a flare blitz on his trainer's command.

Dusclops braced for the attack, crossing its arms in front of its face. The fire type hit its mark and immediately kept his distance from the ghost.

"Use Thunder punch," the gym leader called.

Struck by an electrifying fist, Monferno had also received paralysis which was followed up by another Shadow punch causing the Playful pokemon's knockout.

"Monferno is unable to continue," the ref called.

"Go Ember!" June encouraged. "You can do it!"

"Yeah Ember!" Derek cheered.

Jonas merely watched, seated at the professor's other side.

"Vulpix come out!"

The fox and ghost exchanged attacks between Energy ball/Extrasensory and Shadow punch/Thunder punch until they both fell.

"Gengar go!" Morty brought out his last fighter.

"Chingling go!" Ember called.

"I'm not sure how Chingling will fight, technically this is its first battle," Derek frowned.

June and Jonas nodded in agreement, their eyes on the last battle.

"Doesn't Chingling hold a disadvantage?" The breeder asked.

"Yes, but Ember told me that it won't actually matter apparently."

"Use Confusion," Ember began.

Lifting it's small arms, the bell's eyes began to glow a light blue, lifting Gengar up with a similar aura. It then threw it to the ceiling, and dropped it onto the ground in a powerful fashion.

Everyone's eyes practically popped out of their skulls after seeing the powerful display.

"Is THAT why August wanted Chingling?!" June asked.

Derek was too shocked to answer.

"My, that's a strong psychic type," Morty observed.

Gengar rose up, chuckling quietly.

"But its still a psychic, Gengar use Shadow ball."

"Uproar!" Ember blurted out.

"That won't work though!" Derek called.

The bell shrieked, the sound waves knocking away the dark orb. Gengar levitated away, looking down on his opponent.

"Hypnosis," Morty called.

"Use astonish!"

Chingling shrieked loudly at the ghost as it leapt, striking him with one of its small hands. Gengar fell down, the attacks from confusion and astonish dealing plenty of damage.

"Use confusion again!" Ember called.

This time, Chingling took it a little too far and tossed him all over the place, knocking him out.

"Gengar is unable to continue, Ember wins."

Everyone composed themselves from the shock the bell gave and congratulated the girl.

"Who is the next challenger?" Morty turned to the three seated at the bleachers.

"Me," Jonas stood up.

"Very well, give me a moment to recover my pokemon."

* * *

** A/N: I hated these past few weeks, the Internet on my phone acted stupid, ideas weren't really working out for me... Ugh.**

** But I refuse to give up. It doesn't bother me if these two chapters aren't exactly good, but oh well. I did enjoy writing the Pokeathlon part though... I REALLY don't want to join the large pile of unfinished work on this website...**

** On top of that, I've been waiting for news on The Legend of Korra so I got distracted...**

** Reviews anyone? Before I fall into a pit... I think I may need a few suggestions.**


	7. Part 7

_Chapter 13: The next two challengers_

After about twenty minutes, Morty had returned to take his place in his trainer's box, Jonas on standby on the challenger's side. With a nod from the gym leader, the ref called the match.

"Furret let's go!"

"Gengar, you're up."

The normal type growled at its opponent, the ghost giving its eerie smile at it.

"Use Ice beam."

Furret executed the move well, but the ghost levitated around, avoiding the most of the hit, but was grazed its side.

"Dark Pulse, Gengar."

Gathering dark purple rings between its hands, the ghost fired the beam, hitting its opponent dead on. Squealing in pain, Furret shook its long body.

"C'mon," Jonas urged. "Use Shadow Claw."

The pokemon ran forward, dark energy gathering in its right paw. It took a leap before striking down Gengar. The ghost grunted, feeling the critical hit.

"Gengar use confuse ray." Morty frowned, seeing how Jonas had the upper hand in their first battle.

The shadow pokemon formed three yellow orbs around its body, shooting them straight at its opponent.

"This might turn out bad," Derek observed, seeing how Furret now panicked with a glazed look in its eyes from looking at the orbs.

"Grrr, Furret focus and use Ice beam again." Jonas called.

The normal type's ears pricked up at the sound of its trainer, and frantically performed the move, firing all over the place. Derek, June and Ember ran out of the direction of one of the beams, freezing the place where they once sat.

"Watch where you call that move!" June scowled, another beam flying right past her.

"It's not my fault! Furret's confused!" Jonas called back, not taking his eyes off of his pokemon.

The girl merely crossed her arms.

"Use Focus Blast," Morty called.

Launching the bright blue ball at the confused opponent, the direct hit caused an instant knock out for Jonas.

"Furret, return. Now go Pidgeotto."

The flying type crowed loudly upon materializing, zipping around.

"Thunderbolt, Gengar." Morty started off.

"Use double team." Jonas countered.

The bolt shot right through the many copies that had formed. The Shadow pokemon looked around, trying to find the true target was.

"Use Steel wing!"

The bird flew forward, its wings in a bright sheen.

"Gengar try to dodge," Morty called.

The ghost levitated around, avoiding the attackers. The copies that missed instantly vanished, narrowing the amount of targets. The real Pidgeotto struck from behind, Gengar falling to the ground. From the critical hit Furret's shadow claw had given earlier, the bird's steel wing had knocked out the ghost.

"Gengar return. Come out Ghastly." Morty sent out his next pokemon.

"Pidgeotto, return. Go Arcanine."

"Do you think it was smart of Jonas to recall Pidgeotto?" Ember asked the other two.

"I'm not sure," Derek responed at the same time June shrugged.

"Hmmm."

"Arcanine, use Flamethrower."

"Ghastly dodge it."

The small ghost disappeared through the walls, appearing next to the fire type. The large dog growled, Ghastly merely chuckling back at it.

"Ghastly use night shade," Morty ordered

The red ring did minimal damage on Arcanine.

"Flamethrower again," Jonas called.

This time, the move did strike its target, Ghastly's usual smile turned into a frown from the amount of damage it had taken.

"Use Crunch." The trainer continued.

The Legendary pokemon leapt towards the ghost and snapped at it.

"Ghastly try and get out of range." Morty clenched his hand in a fist.

The two pokemon looked to be in a strange dance of snapping and dodging, Ghastly passing through the floor or becoming invisible as Arcanine was about to strike.

"Try to time it." Jonas called.

Eventually, the fire type anticipated where the ghost would appear and took a big snap at its gaseous body, knocking it out.

"Ghastly return, Dusclops you're up."

After fifteen minutes against Dusclops, Jonas was able to take a Fog badge.

"I suppose your up," Morty looked towards June.

She nodded in response, leaving her bag with Derek and walking to the trainer's box as the gym leader left to heal up.

"You've got this June!" Ember

smiled, Vulpix resting on her lap.

"It shouldn't be to hard," Derek called. "But ghosts are tricky, so keep an eye out!"

Jonas merely stared at his badge, thinking about his battle.

It didn't take long for Morty to return, the ref announcing the match for the third time.

"Dusclops go!"

"Eevee, go!"

"Hmm, it seems I can only use two moves..." Morty eyed the quiet fox. "Dusclops use Thunder punch."

"Quick attack to dodge," June called. "Then use Shadow ball."

With speed, the normal type avoided the electricity, going behind her opponent to launch the attack. Dusclops groaned in pain, turning around to face the fox.

"Use Scary face," Morty called. "Then use thunder punch."

The horrifying glare the ghost had formed was much worst compared to Derek's Duskull, Eevee looking with pure terror in her eyes.

June tried to reassure her, but it didn't seem to work as the ghost type struck her down with electricity.

"Eevee try to move please!"

The fox shook her head to clear herself, moving away from Dusclops.

"Good, now use shadow ball."

"Dusclops use scary face again." Morty countered.

By the time Eevee had launched her attack, the ghost's move had also taken effect. Of course, the glare was short lived, as the shadow ball struck its face. Both pokemon took a while to recover, but were still able to battle.

"Thunder punch."

"Dig, Eevee."

Swiftly, the fox disappeared underground, Dusclops missing its target.

"Fly up to avoid damage." Morty called.

"Shadow ball."

Obviously, Eevee's dig wasn't for an attack, but to get Dusclops at an easy spot to aim. As the orb detonated on the ghosts body, it got knocked out for the third time.

"I think we're done here," Morty sighed. "I can tell you're good, and going against three challengers in a row is a little tiring, so you may get your badge without having to battle me."

"Thank you," June smiled. "I could tell you weren't exactly in a battle mood anymore... I'm sorry if we dragged you on for too long."

"It's fine," Morty assured, handing the badge to her.

After a quick goodbye to the gym, the group left to the center. Leaving Nurse Joy to heal the pokemon that battled, they left to the cafeteria.

"You should watch when to call an attack instead of shooting it willy-nilly..." June frowned at Jonas, who sat across from her.

"As I've said before," he glared. "Furret was confused."

"Well maybe you should wait before calling an attack."

"Don't worry about it June," Derek told her. "At least we weren't hit with it. But she's right, you should've waited until the confusion wore off."

The conversation ended there, as a Chansey approached their table with their pokeballs and handed them back.

"Thanks Chansey," Ember gave her a pat.

The pokemon chirped happily, going back to help out with anything else. Putting their pokeballs away, the group got up to leave to the room on the second floor. Walking up the stairs, June noted a poster with a picture of some of her relatives and the silhouette of two girls and a guy.

"Hey guys look," she stopped the others. "There's something here about breeders."

"Tired of the Breeder Family denying the right for you to take any pokemon they have to offer?" Derek read. "Then join the Breeder Busters."

"What?!" June asked.

"It says they're a group that are against Breeders," Jonas read.

"That doesn't sound good..." Ember looked to June.

"It also says the group travels, and you can catch up to them west of Ecruteak," Derek said.

"Now I'm pretty sure you're not happy about this group," Ember stopped June's upcoming comment. "But we did decide to stay the night."

Reluctantly, June agreed.

"Anyways," she continued. "You did say that we needed some supplies."

"True..."

With that, the girls left their stuff in their room and left to the pokemart.

* * *

_Chapter 14: A new enemy, the calm before the storm ended_

After taking the rest of the day to get some supplies and staying the night, June and the group left to the west of Ecruteak, or route 38. The breeder was basically stomping her way there. She'd need reigns if she were a Rapidash...

"Are you sure you want to confront these, Busters?" Ember asked. "What if they're dangerous?"

"She's got a point." Derek agreed.

She only frowned at the thought. "You're right, its not a smart idea..."

"Now wait," Jonas spoke. "If you don't want to be pushed around, then go and confront the group. Show me what kind of opinion I should have about breeders."

Everyone was astonished with the comment, not really expecting anything from the guy.

They got to yet another small forest, a small mountain at a distance. They began to look around, trying to see if the group they sought after was nearby. There weren't any signs of anyone camping and the group didn't have any breakfast, so they settled for some food. Sandwiches were handed out, but there wasn't much conversation.

"So you care about breeders now?" June asked Jonas after finishing two sandwiches.

"Not exactly, but I've realized that maybe going with the opinion of others isn't mature of me."

"Oh, I see."

The group finished their late breakfast and continued on, looking again, but still nothing.

"Perhaps they've gone to the city past here," Ember said. "I think its called Olivine... I hope so too, I'm getting a little tired of looking around."

The others groaned in agreement, looking for people in a forest would become tiring and boring after a while. The mountain was much closer, running could cover the rest of the path there in a few minutes.

"So we meet finally June Aquaters," a voice said from behind.

They turned to see a girl wearing a pink sleeveless shirt, a white B design on the chest. She wore black arm laces and light yellow dress pants. Her brown hair was layered, flipped outwards and she had a mean look to her black eyes.

"You must be one of the busters." June glared.

"The leader actually." She smirked. "And not the only member."

Appearing on the sides of the group stood another girl and a guy. The girl wore a headband on her white, black-streaked hair, a B at the edge of her black shirt and navy blue shorts with knee high boots. The guy had jet black hair, shaggy, that covered his right eye and a light grey bandanna, sporting a B. He had a black shirt as well and blue jeans.

"We heard that your father finally allowed you to leave your home," the leader continued. "We thought you were going to Goldenrod where we were going to ambush you but you didn't, so we decided to wait by Ecruteak."

"Why?" Derek asked.

"Because," the other girl took out a pokeball. "Since her relatives wouldn't give us the pokemon we want, we decided to put the class under a bad name until we get what we want and maybe kidnap a kid of one of the breeders for ransom."

"What are your names exactly?" Jonas raised an eyebrow, ready for battle.

"The name's Sydney." The leader took out a pokeball. "That's Caroline and Thomas."

"We'll that's a stupid reason, just because you didn't get what you want." June's glare continued. "And I won't let you use me just to get what you want. Go Sneasel!"

"You're coming with us one way or another," Caroline sneered.

"Furret come out and use thunderbolt." Sydney called.

The long bodied pokemon sprang out, a collar on its neck. Discharging electricity, it fired at the group's feet. They leapt back, seeing the burn mark on the ground.

"They must really want pokemon." Jonas frowned. "Furret attack Sydney's."

"I've got this," June stopped the pokemon. "Sneasel and Riolu let's go."

"Manectric come out." Thomas muttered.

"Sneasel use icy wind and Riolu use quick attack."

"Spark on Riolu, Manectric." "Shadow ball on Sneasel."

The attacks collided, the ghostly orb going past the ice to strike the dark type. The charging pokemon struck each other, the two skidding back.

"Sneasel use ice punch. Riolu wait there."

"Bite Manectric." "Furret slam."

As the ice type tried to strike down the charging electric type, Furret was also running towards him. On instinct, he jumped above its opponent, only to have Manectric bite down on his fist. They both suffered, but Sneasel held his fist, in pain.

"Riolu counter."

The barrier bounced Furret back, the pokemon squealed in pain.

"So help me you worthless thing," Sydney glared at it, before taking out another pokeball. "Go sandslash, use Sand attack."

The sharp ground type threw dust at the eyes of June's pokemon, then slashed at them, sending them back to June before anyone could react.

"Ready to give up?" Sydney smirked.

"No way." June glared, returning her teammates.

"Then, Furret use thunderbolt on her."

The pokemon shot a bolt of lightning at her, Jonas running to push her out of the way. The bolt struck the back of his left leg, causing him to hold back a small scream.

"Jonas!" Ember and Derek called.

Derek helped support Jonas and said, "Lets go!"

They began to run as fast as they could with Jonas.

"Don't think you'll get away," they heard Sidney's voice.

Caroline stepped up to her as she saw June and the others go. "Want me to track them?"

"Of course, but I want to have fun with them," the leader smiled.

The other member brought out a Crobat, sending it to follow them.

"Why'd you do it?" June asked as they ran. "You could've been hurt and this was my fight."

"Because, I can't let anyone I know get hurt," Jonas said, flinching with every word.

"Past the mountain is Olivine city I think," Ember said. "We've got to get medical help."

They reached the base of the mountain, Derek letting Jonas down to see how the injury was. They pulled up his ripped pant leg to see what looked like a burn.

"Is it that bad?" Jonas winced.

"It's not good," June examined. "But I'm not sure what to do..."

Just then, Crobat flew above them, looking down on its target.

"We'll be fine as long as we can get to Olivine," Ember assured.

As she finished the sentence, Crobat had performed an X-scissor and Cross poison on the rock above them, sending many rocks tumbling down on them.

They all screamed, Derek pushing Ember out of the way while June used herself to try and protect Jonas. Her eyes were shut tight, the girl not wanting to see her demise.

"June!" "Jonas!" A muffled call was heard.

With that, the girl opened her eyes and saw nothing but pitch black.

"Jonas are you alright?" June asked.

"I'm fine." She heard. "Somehow I didn't get hurt."

"Guys! We're over here!" June called.

"I can hear you!" Ember's voice called. "But you're in too deep to dig you out!"

"We need to get help!" Derek called. "But we can't leave you there! What if it caves in?"

"We'll be fine!" June called. "Just go!"

She waited for another sound, before looking around for her pack.

"How am I suppose to see if I can't find my pack?" She muttered.

"Arcanine come out." Jonas whispered.

The bright flash let June see long enough to grab her pack, only to take out a crushed flashlight.

"Oh, no." She said. "It's broken."

"Flamethrower."

The canine shot fire, lighting up the 'cave'. June found the limb of a tree and lit it on fire, allowing for her to see without the fire type's help. Looking at how small the cave was, her breathing became shallow and fear got over her.

"Are you alright?" Jonas asked as Arcanine supported his back by lying behind him.

"I can't...breathe," she coughed. "It's too small..."

She curled up a little, her heartbeat loud enough for him to hear.

"Don't look at the cave," Jonas looked with worry. "Just look at the fire."

She followed what he said, looking at the flame. The girl calmed down a little, but she wasn't doing well.

"What if we're stuck here forever?" She whispered.

**A/N: well, I realized I got very distracted this past month ._. (But I've got no real excuse)**

** I began watching a show called Attack on Titan and it got me. I've only seen six episodes so far, so I've got a ways to go... (Its got a pretty awesome theme song that's for sure)**

** I think seeing that slightly dark show caused me to change the mood here, but I did plan for this team to come in so it worked okay to me! **

** Reviews and suggestions are welcome.**


	8. Part 8

_Chapter 15: Rescue_

"How are we going to get out of here," June said, the moment of silence broken.

She scooted to a wall she deemed lead from where they came from and began digging out.

"June stop," Jonas groaned through the pain as Arcanine shifted to get his trainer more comfortable. "What if it caves in?"

"I have to get out," she whimpered, tearing up as she tried to move a heavy rock out. "I-I..."

The girl then tried to use her legs to kick her way out, causing some pebbles to fall down the pile before a larger one followed, landing close to her leg. Several other rocks fell, from the 'ceiling', causing her to stop.

"Stop it now June," Jonas shook his head. "We're going to have to wait this out."

She huddled up again, looking at the fire. It had already eaten away a good portion of the branch, causing her to look at Jonas worriedly.

"We'll be fine." He assured.

In a flash, Riolu appeared, coming out of her ball after sensing the fear her trainer had. She cuddled towards June, trying to comfort her.

* * *

"We have to hurry!" Derek huffed to Ember as they ran. "That pile of rocks they're stuck under could collapse at any moment."

Ember nodded, a determined look on her face.

They continued to run, the situation not allowing them to rest. Although they didn't plan on stopping, two bolts of lightning shot in front of them, courtesy of Sydney's Furret and Thomas's Manectric.

"You didn't think we were out of the picture did you?" The leader smiled. "Immobilizing June will allow us to get her quickly and along with you, no one needs to tell on the breeder family."

"We have no time for this," Derek muttered to Ember. "We have to move."

"Then we'll have to beat them quickly." She responded. "Go Chingling!"

"Fine then, Psyduck go!"

* * *

Jonas hissed as he tried to shift his position a little. Riolu grunted at her trainer, getting her attention. June looked to Jonas, seeing his breathing get shallow as he tried to move. She got to her pack, rummaging through it.

"There has to be something here for us."

The girl found a half crushed first aid kit, courtesy of her mother. Luckily, the items under the large dent were simply bandages and gauzes. She found other things, reminding her of what her mother taught her about first aid. Taking out the gauze, she went to Jonas and sat next to him.

"I should've done this earlier," she said, wrapping the burn on his leg.

"It's fine," Jonas winced as she had Riolu hold the leg up. "Thanks."

"I should be thanking you, I almost got hit by that bolt."

He gave a small smile, shutting his eyes for a moment. Arcanine nudged Riolu in gratitude, the fighting type giving a small bow to express her's. June looked to her bag again, taking out what water she had, two and a half bottles.

"Here," she said, giving Jonas a bottle while she sipped from the half empty one.

He gulped down a little less than half of it, looking at June gratefully.

"I never asked," he said. "What's your family like?"

"Well..."

* * *

"Use Psychic." Derek called.

"Confusion." Ember followed.

The enemy pokemon were flung back again for the third time, Manectric tiring but still standing. Furret didn't take the attack well, struggling to stand.

"That's it." Sydney glared at her pokemon. "Ever since I got you, you've been losing far more than winning. I've had it."

Taking the pokeball that belonged to the Long body pokemon, the buster smashed the ball, freeing the normal type.

"Get out of my sight."

Struggling, the pokemon tried to walk away, but wasn't able to support itself anymore.

"How can you do that?!" An outraged Derek protested, taking out his own pokeball and catching Furret. "You should be arrested."

"As if," she said, taking out Sandslash. "The thing is worthless."

Along with his anger, Derek's Psyduck was also angry, bathing itself in a bright light. Its formed changed, the glow dimming down to reveal Golduck. It shot a water pulse at the ground type, knocking it out instantly.

"Chingling, send them back," Ember ordered.

The bell focused, picking up the two busters and their pokemon. Before it could send them back, Crobat flew out of nowhere and swatted at her with a wing attack.

On instinct, Golduck charged at the poison type, its head glowing. Caroline caught her pokemon before getting caught under the water type's Psychic. Using a combo of their psychic ability, Golduck and Chingling sent them away.

Their trainers looked in awe at their pokemon before snapping back to the problem.

"I'm glad you evolved Golduck," Derek returned his pokemon. "But we'll celebrate later. And we need to get June and Jonas some help, along with this Furret."

Ember nodded, returning Chingling.

* * *

"...and well, that's how my my dad started his dream, through training and dedication."

"Wow." Jonas said. "I never realized it was difficult to be a breeder."

June nodded, looking at the branch again. The fire had eaten over half of it, returning her to the problem at hand.

"I owe you an apology," Jonas said. "I shouldn't have been acting like a jerk to you when we met."

"It's fine," she said. "I've seen it happen a lot to my dad. But you need to sleep."

Jonas nodded and yawned settling onto Arcanine. Riolu huddled next to June, happy to feel some of the sadness ease off of her.

* * *

The sun was setting on Derek and Ember, the two of them not even close to Olivine. They walked a while longer and were planning to settle down to rest when they saw a small farm nearby. The small ranch house's lights were on.

They approached the front door, Ember knocking on it. A woman with grey-streaked ash blonde hair, answered, wearing an apron over her soft-yellow flannel shirt and overalls.

"Hello," she smiled. "Are you travelers?"

"Yes ma'am," they said at the same time.

"Well, your welcome to stay here for the night, I'm Miss Bailey."

"Thank you." Derek gave a weak smile.

As they followed her lead to the kitchen, Ember whispered, "Should we tell them about our problem?"

"No, we don't want to bring trouble to them. Besides we're not staying all night."

A black blur flew past them, causing them to duck.

"Ron!" Miss Bailey scolded. "I keep telling you to let that poor bird out! It doesn't like it here."

"Bailey, he seems fine." A man responded.

Entering the kitchen, they met a man with at the table reading, his glasses sitting atop his nose. He wore overalls with a simple brown shirt.

"I'm telling you," Miss Bailey continued. "That Murkrow is probably feeling suffocated."

Ron ignored her and looked to the guests.

"We're about to have dinner, care to join us?"

They nodded quietly, their minds elsewhere. As they ate, the Murkrow from before began squawking, flying around the kitchen. This caused Derek and Ember to look at it curiously.

"Rob, that Murkrow wants to be out, I don't see why you had to keep it in here when you found it." Miss Bailey shook her head.

"I guess you're right," the man sighed.

The Murkrow landed on Ember's shoulder, picking away at a piece of food she offered.

"Would either of you want this Murkrow?" Rob asked.

"Go ahead Ember," Derek nudged her. "I think it would be great for you."

She took out a pokeball, quickly capturing the dark type.

* * *

June dug into her pack and grabbed her pokegear, it was a little past ten.

"Olivine city must be further than I thought," she muttered.

She clicked the call button on the gear, only to see that it was unable to do so. Jonas had been asleep for a while, stirring every now and again. The fire had been gone for a while, June having to sit in complete darkness. An idea sprouted on her head, making her dig into her pockets until she pulled out a pokeball. In a flash, Eevee appeared. As the light dimmed down, she approached June.

"We have to get out," the girl whispered. "Eevee, you're going to have to dig us out, make your way outside using Dig. Arcanine, we need some light. See if you can catch anything on fire that could be up in the ceiling."

Jonas was probably the deepest sleeper ever, sleeping through the canine's bursts of fire until he caught a few roots stuck overhead, giving some light again. With light again, Eevee began digging, leaving June with Riolu.

"Thanks for your comfort," she hugged the fighting type. "I really needed it."

The pokemon was taken off guard for a moment, before returning the hug.

Eevee's digging was short lived, as she had found her way out. The moon was up, the mountain looming behind her. Turning back around, she made the diameter of the hole a little bigger. She popped back in with June, happy to find a way out.

"You found the way out?!" June squeaked.

The fox got out of the hole, wagging her tail as a yes. Riolu gave a nod of approval, happy they were going to be able to leave. Going to and from the hole, the fox made it large enough for June to crawl out. She gasped for air as she popped up, wriggling her way out. The aura pokemon followed behind her. They heard a large yip from the tunnel, Arcanine calling to them. Although she seriously didn't want to go, June took a deep breath and crawled back in.

* * *

"I can't sleep," Ember muttered, rubbing her dark red eyes.

"Neither can I..." Derek responded.

The guest room consisted of two beds and nothing more, except for a window.

"We have to rest though," he continued. "Even a little rest can help."

"I just hope they are alright," Ember gave a small yawn.

Dawn came in faster than they thought, the two packing up and leaving a note of gratitude for the owners. They left quickly, heading off to Olivine. Finding a sign, they followed the direction. The sun had risen a good distance in the sky by the time they saw the signature lighthouse, the building that made Olivine city known in other regions. They picked up the pace, heading to find Officer Jenny.

* * *

June had let Jonas get his rest, falling asleep close by to keep him company. Eevee and Riolu snuggled by her as well, making sure she was fine. The rays of light coming from the tunnel caused June to wake up, turning to Jonas.

"Jonas," she shook him. "Get up. Its morning."

He groaned, Arcanine getting him upright.

"Hey June," he muttered, before seeing the dim brightness from the tunnel. "What the-"

"Eevee dug it for us," she smiled. "We can get out."

He looked at it again, uncertainty in his amber eyes. "I'm not sure if I can crawl out."

"You have to try," she encouraged.

He nodded, making his way to the hole with the help of June. Returning Arcanine, he let June crawl out first, Eevee and Riolu, following. The fighting type carried her trainer's pack, awaiting for Jonas.

"You can do it," June encouraged. "When I see your hand, I help you out."

The grunts Jonas gave got louder as he reached the end, June taking hold of his hands. She wasn't strong, so she was having difficulty.

"Owwww. Wait." He said. "Your pulling to hard."

"I'm sorry," she said, letting him go. "Can you breathe?"

"I'm fine there," he responded. "It's just my leg that hurts."

Riolu set the pack down, stepping up to the hole. Grabbing onto Jonas's hands with her small paws, the pokemon was able to inch him out more than June.

She gave a final grunt, pulling out the upper half of Jonas. June was able to pull him out now, giving him some space.

"Thanks again June," he said, looking at his wrapped injury. "I'm not sure how far I can go, though."

"Just ride on Arcanine," she suggested.

Helping him up, the two started walking the worn path towards Olivine.

* * *

"Officer Jenny!" Derek ran to the familiar cyan haired woman. "It's an emergency!"

"What's the problem?" She asked.

"Our friends are stuck under al pile of rocks that fell from the mountain, one of them was hit with a thunderbolt at the back of his left leg so he can't walk well." Ember said in a rush.

"Ok, I'll get a vehicle ready for us," she said.

They climbed onto what seemed to be a van sporting the colors of a typical police car. Hitting the gas pedal, they sped towards the direction Derek and Ember ran from.

* * *

_Chapter 16: Recovering_

"Are you feeling okay?" June asked.

"I'm fine," Jonas responded, petting Arcanine. "I just hope the others got to Olivine."

She nodded in response, Riolu and Eevee behind her. Seeing their trainer happy, the two looked to each other in relief before the fox got bathed in a bright light.

"Eevee?" June turned to her. "Is she evolving?!"

The fox shuddered and stiffened up, the glow dimming down. Her form didn't change.

"What's wrong Eevee?" June asked. "Don't you want to evolve?"

The fox gave one last shudder and shook her head.

"I think she doesn't want to be an Espeon." Jonas commented.

"Is that it?"

Eevee huffed, canceling her evolution had tired her.

"But its a sign that she trusts you," Jonas added, smiling.

June stroked her head, deciding to carry her. Riolu pondered whether or not she fully trusts her trainer, looking at her green scarf. She came to the conclusion that she did, but decided to wait on her own evolution... And that she would protect her trainer.

They continued to walk for a while before hunger getting the two of them. June had nothing on her pack, most of the food ruined from the rock-alanche. Riolu ran off smelling where a fruit tree or berry bush could be. She ran back, grabbing two bowls and scampered off again. Twenty minutes later, the fighting type returned with a mix of apples and berries she knew were edible for people. Handing a bowl to each of them, she took her place next to June.

"Thank you very much," June smiled to her pokemon, sitting down and placing Eevee on her lap. "But I could've gotten it.

Arcanine laid down to let Jonas get more comfortable as he ate.

* * *

"They're at the base of the mountain," Derek explained as Jenny drove. "Past a farm."

"Oh you mean the Moo Moo farm?"she asked. "I know the path well enough."

Ember, sitting in the back seat, took out her red scarf and tied her hair up, breathing a sigh of relief.

After a half hour, they passed the farm, Rob ushering Miltanks out to the field.

"We must be getting close now," Jenny noted.

At the speed they were driving, ten minutes passed until they saw the two of them at the side of the road eating fruit. The two noted the vehicle and June ran towards it, meeting up with the officer and her friends.

"Thank goodness!" June smiled. "Jonas needs help."

"We need to get to Olivine right away," Jenny said. "Jonas can get help for his wound there."

Supported by Ember and Derek, Jonas was placed in the van, Derek riding the passenger seat and the girls at the third set of seats. Riolu and Eevee sat on June's lap, quietly looking around.

"How did you get out?" Ember asked.

"I made Eevee use dig," June smiled. "I couldn't stand being under all that rock."

"Well good thing you got out. I'm glad your okay."

"Derek, Eevee was about to evolve into Espeon, but she stopped herself."

"That's strange," he said. "I'll have to look into that after we get Jonas some help."

"First things first," Jenny cut in. "What happened."

"We were assaulted by a group called the Breeder Busters."

"They must be new," The officer noted. "We'll be looking for them."

"I don't think they'll be easy to catch," Ember spoke. "They are a traveling group."

"You don't need to worry."

They arrived at Olivine with no problems, the Pokecenter was located by the hospital so there wasn't a need to drive around.

"I'll take him to the hospital," Jenny assured. "You can wait at the center for news."

"Wait," Jonas took out his three pokeballs, handing them to June. "Please heal them."

With that, the officer took off to the hospital.

Derek and the others left to the center, renting a room and washing up. They approached Nurse Joy, Derek taking out the hurt Furret.

"This Furret was abandoned, can you heal it?" He asked.

"Of course," Nurse Joy placed it on a small stretcher where two Chansey rushed off with it.

They then left all their pokemon to heal, sitting at a booth to eat.

"I never realized things could get so out of hand," June muttered.

"It's okay," Derek assured. "We're all fine now."

June took out her pack and rummaged through it, salvaging what she could and threw away what was broken.

"I'm going to need to refuel on supplies and train more in case anything happens like this again."

Chansey came back and handed all the pokeballs, Derek putting away Jonas's.

"My Psyduck evolved," he tried to cheer up June.

"Really?" She lit up. "That's great!"

"And I got a Murkrow." Ember added.

"Wow, it's crazy what can happen in one day."

Ember took out the bird, the dark type flying around for a moment before landing on his new trainer.

"What a good pokemon for your team," June commented. "It seems friendly."

The crow squawked for a moment before settling down. Ruffling its feathers.

"Now about your Eevee." Derek changed the subject.

June took out the fox, now recovered, and set her on the table.

Derek examined the fox for a moment, before looking at her in the eyes.

"Do you want pick your evolution?"

The fox wagged her tail, keeping quiet.

"I'm completely okay with that," June told her. "What would you like? There's-"

"Derek!" Officer Jenny came to them. "I've got news on your friend, Jonas."

"What is it?" Ember asked.

"The burn isn't severe, but doctors said that he will need to recover for around a week."

"We're all fine waiting here right guys?" Derek asked.

The girls nodded, June reminding herself that she needed supplies an the others wanted to your around the city.

"We'll make sure to visit Jonas when we can," June told the officer.

* * *

** A/N: While waiting for a few things for my Grand Festival fanfic, I decided to put the next chapter here. With school starting, the first week was pretty slow to me... **

** But my imagination works best at school believe it or not!**

** Suggestions and reviews are welcome ^^**


	9. Part 9

_Chapter 17: Stones_

With Jonas recovering, the others left to roam around Olivine. Derek had Sydney's Furret in a pokeball, constantly staring at it as they walked away from the Pokemon center, all while Golduck was behind him. It was obvious that his trainer had complete excitement over his water type evolving and he wanted to keep it out for a while, but the constant thought of the normal type kept him distracted.

"Nurse Joy said Furret was fine," Derek muttered as June and Ember looked with worry at him. "But what about its mental being? I just hope that girl didn't abuse her."

"I'm not sure what to say," June muttered, Eevee sitting on her shoulder. "I've never really thought about abuse to a pokemon... I mean, I know it exists, but..."

"It's hard to actually think about it huh?" Ember finished for her, Vulpix yawning on her shoulder. "Back at the Sinnoh region before I left, I heard a lot of accounts of pokemon abuse, mainly from an organization that worked there... It was sorta the reason why I left in the first place..."

June sighed, thinking about that sort of behavior someone had towards a companion was hard to think about. Her family never mistreated any pokemon. Sure her father wrestled with some water types sometimes, but it was more for fun reasons. She shook her head at the thought, easily getting sidetracked. Eevee snuggled for a second against her, getting her attention.

"Sorry Eevee," she said. "I guess all my thinking is sidetracking me..."

"I'll bring out Furret when there's not so much open space..." Derek put away the sphere.

They stopped at a small park, the large lighthouse overlooking the city looming above them at their right.

"Now to talk a little about evolution," he said, looking at how Golduck, Eevee and Vulpix stood in front of their trainers.

"So what would you want to be Eevee?" June began. "There are a lot of options."

"Oh, yeah." Derek emphasized. "So far, I think 8 have been discovered."

"Obviously," Ember added. "Some evolutions can't be done here in the Johto region."

"Oh?" The breeder asked.

"Yup, certain environmental conditions are required," a voice behind them cut in.

They turned to see a guy around 19 years of age. He had a brown hoodie on, and black jeans, a chain necklace with a small oval coin, similar to a Meowth's charm, hung around his neck. His hair was a deep brown with black streaks through it, having stormy grey eyes.

"Ivan!" June exclaimed, running to hug him.

"It's been a while," he hugged her back. "I see mom gave you an Eevee."

"Guys," June told the others. "This is Ivan, my Aunt Nora's son, and she gave me Eevee."

"Nice to meet you," Ember smiled, Derek shaking hands.

"I see you want to evolve Eevee." He looked to the fox. "But do you know what she wants?"

"Not yet," June said. "We were about to find out."

"Well I'm glad your figuring out that way," he approved. "Most just force them into an evolution without second thought."

"Well, you see," Derek said. "Eevee cancelled her evolution into an Espeon."

"Interesting. Well the two evolutions you can't reach are that of Glaceon and Leafeon."

"Right," Ember agreed. "Because the only way to get those forms would be to go to Eterna forest, or south of Snowpoint city, both are in the Sinnoh region."

"There is also Pinwheel forest and Twist mountain in Unova for evolving them too." Derek added.

"Would you have wanted to be a Glaceon or Leafeon?" June turned to the normal type.

The fox shook its head quickly.

"Espeon is out too," she continued. "I've seen an Umbreon. How about that?"

Another shake. Eevee began yipping at her trainer, actually conversing since the first time since June had her.

"Wait," she realized. "When I was visiting Uncle Ethan, Eevee took interest is his Jolteon. Maybe that's the one!"

The fox nodded at hearing the word Jolteon.

"Alright," Ember said. "How are we going to get a Thunderstone then?"

"I'll worry later." June assured.

"I'm still wondering when to let Vulpix evolve."

The red fox yipped at her trainer at the sound of her name, waving her tails.

"The gym here is steel." Ivan said. "Having a Ninetales would help your chances of winning."

"Yeah, but I'm not sure when. What if I'm rushing her?"

"You'll know when. I have a Togekiss and it didn't take me long to evolve her."

"Alright," Ember smiled.

"So what brings you here actually?" June asked.

"Oh, I've been traveling for a bit now, just roaming." Ivan shrugged.

"Ah."

They stayed a while longer at the park, letting the pokemon play, though Golduck had some difficulty with his newfound height.

They chuckled at seeing Golduck peek into a tunnel curiously while Eevee and Vulpix popped out at the other side.

"It must be difficult having your own body change so much." Ember looked on.

"I've always wondered that," Derek sighed. "It's hard sometimes, trying to put yourself in their shoes."

The psychic type huffed before walking back to his trainer to stand by.

"It's alright Golduck," the professor patted the pokemon.

"Hey, lets go to the lighthouse," Ivan suggested, I was actually planning to go there earlier."

Returning the pokemon, they headed to the building that symbolized the entire city.

Paying their pass in, they began walking up, the views were breathtaking, large windows pointed towards the sea where some Wingulls were flying by, an occasional Pelipper following suit.

It didn't take long to reach the fifth and final floor where most visitors were at. At the center of the room was an Ampharos, happily enjoying the attention everyone was giving it. It squealed happily at one of the children rubbing its belly, making it wag its long tail.

"The Ampharos' name is Amphy," Ivan said. "He lives here and uses the lights it can emit from the red orbs of its body to use the source of light for the lighthouse, though it doesn't really do that anymore."

They were able to reach the center, Amphy nuzzling Ember for attention.

"Awwww," Ember smiled. "He's so sweet."

They stayed a half-hour or so before climbing back down the lighthouse. The sea was calm, the waves rolling in a rhythmic fashion.

* * *

(_Olivine Hospital_)

Jonas sighed as he looked at the T.V., the only form of entertainment in his room. He had taken his covers off to look at the fresh gauze the nurse had given him after treating the burn. It pained him to think he would be stuck for a week to recover the burn, a big setback for himself and the gang since the doctor suggested he not travel until most of the burn was healed.

'I wonder what they're doing,' He thought as he mindlessly changed channels. 'Probably walking around...'

After a while, he turned off the T.V. and reached for his pack, taking out his badge case and looking to the four badges he had. Just then, the nurse came in, handing the three pokeballs he had.

"Here are your pokemon." The nurse smiled warmly. "I would suggest not to bring out a large pokemon please."

"Of course, and thank you." He smiled back.

With that, the nurse left. As she did, Jonas took out Furret, who was quick to curl next to his trainer and look worriedly at the injury.

"I'm fine," Jonas assured, hugging the Long bodied pokemon closer. "We're going to be stuck here for a week though..."

The normal type licked the guy's face, trying to comfort him. He smiled and stroked one of its long ears.

* * *

(_By Lighthouse_)

The gang walked by the beach, having fun and looking at the occasional Krabby that scurried by.

"Are you sure we should be here?" June asked Ember. "It seems wrong with Jonas hurt..."

"It's fine June," the girl assured. "I'm sure Jonas would want us to look around the city while we wait for him. Hey, maybe we can challenge the gym first and then see how he'll do."

"I suppose..."

Suddenly, this old man walking by passed by them.

"I need I get out more," he muttered under his breath, then looked to the group. "Hey, you youngsters, I'm in a good mood, so here."

He handed a Thunderstone to a surprised June, before walking away muttering. "I should call Bill soon..."

"What luck," Ivan scratched the back of his head in confusion. "Now you can evolve Eevee."

In a burst of light, Eevee came out of her ball, eyeing the stone with hunger in her eyes.

"Now Eevee, now I know you want this, but don't you think-"

"I'll take that," the voice of August came from behind them. "Having a Raichu will help."

They turned to see the Team Rocket agent, a Wartortle at her side.

"I was wondering when you'd show up," Ivan smiled. "So the rumors are true."

Everyone looked to him in confusion.

"Everyone heard from Aunt Gina, pathetic that your actually working with Team Rocket."

"This isn't your fight Ivan," August warned. "Stay out of it."

"Yeah, right."

"Whatever. Now Wartortle."

The water type ran at an incredible pace, quickly taking the stone from June's hand.

Ivan reacted the fastest, taking out a ball and releasing Togekiss. The pokemon swooped fast enough to catch Wartortle off guard and snatch the stone between its small feet.

"Flygon, take out that Togekiss and get the Thunderstone." August brought out the dragon.

An aerial fight began between the two flyers, the two flying right above the ocean. Distracted by Flygon, Togekiss dropped the stone. The two prevented the other from going after it, exchanging attacks.

"No!" June and August yelled, seeing the stone plummet into the deep looking water.

Without a second thought, June dove in after it, swimming straight down.

"June no!" Ember, Jonas and Ivan called after her.

With years of having to constantly swim under her belt, June quickly swam down, the light of day allowing her to see. Lucky for her she was able to spot the shine of the stone and quickly grabbed it, heading straight back to the surface.

Ivan quickly pulled June out of the water, letting the girl catch her breath.

"That was very irresponsible." Derek scolded. "What would your family think if you didn't come back?!"

"I'm sorry," she coughed out. "It's just that Eevee wanted it."

The fox tackled her down, racked with worry. The stone fell off June's hand and bopped the normal type on her head, causing her to absorb the stone and glow brightly. In her place was now a Jolteon.

June hugged the newly evolved pokemon before realizing. "Where did August go?"

"Ivan chased her away," Ember said.

"Congrats on getting Jolteon," Derek changed the mood.

"I think I'll hang around for a while with you guys," Ivan said. "I can't wait to see how you battle, or I think I might want to challenge you."

"Ok," June said, petting Jolteon.

* * *

_Chapter 18: Training_

The day after, the group left to see Jonas. He had just finished breakfast, and was glad to have some company. After being introduced to Ivan, they told him of what happened yesterday.

"You've got a Jolteon now?" Jonas asked after hearing the news. "That's great!"

"We're actually planning to train today, a facility is here in the city."

"Really? Man, I need to train..."

"I'll take your team if you want," Derek offered.

"Thanks," he handed his team.

"How's the treatment?" Ember eyed the gauze.

"The burn and soreness is going away slowly, but I'm doing fine. I just wish I could get out."

"Don't worry," June assured. "You'll get better soon."

They stayed for a while longer before leaving to the training facility at the edge of town, settled by a forest. It was much larger than the previous facility they were at, an entire section was given to them, a clearing at the back for training.

June started with Jolteon, Ember with Murkrow and Derek with Golduck. Ivan decided to help out with training.

"Ok Jolteon," June patted the eeveelution. "We've gotta get you trained to see what you've got."

The electric type smirked, and got into a crouch.

"Show me your first move."

The pokemon's spiky fur stood on end, firing needles at a nearby tree.

"Not bad," Ivan nodded. "Pin missile can be useful if you use it right."

Jolteon then proceeded to dig down and fire a shadow ball, followed by a thunderbolt.

"Impressive speed." June said. "I know what she can do."

While she was busy with speed excercises, Ivan moved on to see how Derek was doing. Golduck was in the middle of using Psychic in multiple objects found in their training room, the large open space allowed anyone to move back and forth from inside to outside.

"Good job Golduck." Derek praised. "Your psychic ability is great."

"Does he have any other moves that aren't psychic?"

"Yeah, Golduck use Hydro pump!"

Quickly, the water type dropped the objects and shot a thick jet of water at a target, making a dent in it.

"Follow it with Signal beam."

A multicolored beam fired from the gem on its forehead outside, disintegrating into the air. The final move it demonstrated to Ivan was Ice Beam, finishing off what was left of the target Golduck continually struck.

"How's it going here Ember?" Ivan moved on.

The trainer had given Murkrow a weight to fly with, giving him more strength in his wings. As he had the weights tied to his feet, Ember had it try to fly at different heights.

"Great," she kept her eyes on the bird. "I think Murkrow has gotten used to the weights, they're pretty light, maybe we can get heavier ones."

They had swapped the weights, now giving Murkrow a little difficulty. The dark type began squawking, annoyed at the burden.

"Alright, come here," she giggled. "I'm guessing Miss Bailey and Mr. Ron didn't train him at all."

They switched pokemon, June taking Sneasel, Derek bringing Spinarak, and Ember having Chingling. Ivan looked on, watching Sneasel practice its agility and speed. Now it was Ember who used the many objects for Chingling's Confusion, but they were child's play for the Psychic type. Spinarak had practiced with a dummy, using Pin missile and fury swipes until the dummy was ripped to shreds.

"Good thing there are more of them," Derek said, sheepish.

"Wait," Ivan stopped them, looking at him. "You still have Jonas's pokemon right?"

"Yeah."

"You're going to be busy with your pokemon, let me train his."

"Alright I guess."

Getting the spheres, Ivan picked one and brought out Pidgeotto. After telling the flying type he was going to train it, he proceeded to let it fly outside. He had it ascend high then swoop down at an incredible pace, then fly up at the last second, a few feet away from crashing.

They continued training for a while, going through every pokemon they had. Ember, having only four, and Ivan, easily training the other two pokemon for Jonas, finished before the other two and now proceeded to help with the last couple of pokemon June and Derek had, Dratini and Deino.

Being to timid to try and look at the things she could use, the serpent stayed close to June. Deino on the other hand, despite being blind for his species, was striking down trees and dummies. Peeking from around June's feet, Dratini looked at how the other dragon ran around, it looked fun. Slowly, she slithered away from June and faced a target.

"Ok Dratini," June encouraged. "Try and hit the target."

The serpent nodded and focused, a little flicker of energy appearing in front of her nose. The flicker grew into a small sphere of turquoise energy, Dratini straining to keep it up.

Deino was having too much fun training and was running straight for Dratini, running past her. Through all his excitement, his fangs glowed a blue color. Quickly snapping them together, a shimmer of blue flying off. The serpent got distracted at seeing the shimmer and the sphere disappeared into thin air. The dragon sadly looked at the last glimmer of energy in front of her nose and began wailing.

"Oh its ok," June comforted her. "Try again."

Dratini sniffed for a moment and tried again, the same sphere forming again. This time, the serpent took it further and tried to shoot it at the target, only to give off a sharp pop! as she released it. The serpent looked to June curiously.

"It needs more practice," Ivan said. "But that's good for a Dragon Pulse at her age."

Deino stopped by Dratini and gave what would be considered a smile, though the serpent had curled up in fear.

June picked her up and stroked her head. "Well, is say we're done, what should we do next?"

"How about a restaurant?" Derek suggested, returning Deino.

"That sounds good," Ember agreed.

"I've seen a few restaurants," Ivan said. "I know a pretty good one."

Returning the pokemon, they picked up the mess they had made and left the facility, going across town to a small restaurant.

They were served noodles and dumplings, everyone loving the flavor.

"Gosh, these are amazing!" Derek said.

"You said it!" June agreed, taking a mouthful. "They're awesome."

"I went to this restaurant as soon as I got into town," Ivan ate a dumpling.

"We've got to get some for Jonas," Ember suggested.

Everyone agreed, before taking another bite of food.

* * *

**A/N: AGH! I really do hate math, the one thing that I always have to worry about :(. And its Pre-cal to make it worst... It isn't difficult, but it does eat up a lot of my time... .-.**

** Its only a couple of weeks until Pokemon X an Y are released! Who's excited?! I am! I'm debating whether to get Fennekin or Chespin :3**

** But anyhooo, I have questions about the story I would like you readers to respond to please.**

**1. Should Derek keep the Furret Sydney had or not?**

**2. Would you like me to skip a good amount of the week the gang is spending in Olivine and just jump to the Gym battle and Jonas's check out of the hospital? Or have me do June and Ember's gym battle during the week and then do Jonas's as soon as he recovers?**

**3. Would battling Ivan be a good idea? If so, who should battle?**

**Reviews and Suggestions are always welcome :D**


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